


An Unusual Crossover

by sosoeuso



Category: Neopets, Original Work
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-26
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 19:53:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16750552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sosoeuso/pseuds/sosoeuso
Summary: The main story of my main eight Neopets OCs, each live their distinctive lives in different places of Neopia, with their own stories, their own struggles, their own goals and resolutions, but, by sleight of chance, or an unknown higher force, or whatever strange reason, they are all connected. Their fates become even more entangled when they become involved with a bigger plot, and are forced to work together.I do warn whoever reads this, that after chapter 9, the uploading will slow down, because actually I have just been uploading chapters that I already had wrote months back. I do plan on continuing writing this though, I promise.Also I apologize if you read and find grammar mistakes, English is not my primary language, and writing is hard lol. I'll be also editing for some details and for mistakes as it goes, because I change my mind way too often.





	1. Keemiter

     I shouted out their names, and heard no response. My heart beated so fast, racing while I scoured the palace in ruins, running through the endless labyrinth of rooms that made up its layout, ignoring the other Elephantes laying about, I needed to find them, I NEEDED to find them, I. NEEDED. TO. FIND. THEM. Everything had been broken, that witch knew no bounds, did she? The statues, the pedestals, the armor stands, toppled over and shattered by her minions, those shadows that followed her around, with no regard or respect to anything.   
  
     She had come here for a sole thing, and yet razed the castle and, from what I could see from the windows, the village around it. Probably trying to make a big impression, to intimidate. She probably had hoped that with a big show, no one would dare confront her, and would give her what she wants. She hoped wrong. No one goes down without a fight, at least not here! I see some more guards scattered around the ground, some of them beginning to move, but I have no time, I need to find them, I just keep on looking.   
  
     I hoped for the best, I really hoped to find them, safe and sound. that's all that I hoped. Curse these large halls and long hallways, I thought as I ran down them, looking around, they weren't far away, the throne room... Maybe the ballroom next to it? Nope, the garden, mayhaps? I don't even know how to call her, all I know is that my short-lived confrontation with her left me with one word only stuck in my head: monster. She was a monster, not Neopet, bringing upon nightmares and destruction. A true monster of tales, pure evil, shadows and darkness, she was one of them, and they were one with her, and she commanded them, and controlled them. She had a cape of the very void on her, alive with its forbidden magic, sprouting tendrils and misshapen shapes that she controlled at will, and her eyes glowed unnaturally yellow.. I shuddered at remembering her eyes, and then burned with righteous anger. That Kougra's punishment would come. I was sure of it.   
  
     Yet, she easily overpowered me, I couldn't defend my own castle, I couldn't do anything, she knocked me unconscious and left me behind. Weak, I am weak, I couldn't do anything! All I can do now is hope is that they are okay, since I couldn't make sure of it. I wish I was stronger! I wish I had the might to overtake a monster like that, to be strong enough to confront her, if I were my mother, she'd have done it. I am sure of it. She was a monster hunter before the royal duties, she took down multiple fearsome creatures of legend, her stories were told by all, all of the time... A heroine of the nation, she was unbeatable! That thought made me a bit more assured that maybe I had some chances... I searched some more rooms, and went out to the patio where the dovecot was located, and there I shouted and ran to them.   
  
     "BABA! MAMA!"  
  
     I approached, but my worst fear had come true, at least in part. My kneeling father looked up to me, completely desolated, and my heart sank. As I lost focus on everything altogether, in the back of my head a dark wish became a desperate goal, and all I could think of is that witch.


	2. Belletye

     "Okay, okay, okay, so, can I tell you a story? It's something cray-zey that happened to me once, you won't believe!"  
  
     The Aisha sat down on a bench on the park, and looked at me, and despite seemingly expressionless, I could almost feel their gleaming enthusiasm emanating from their metal casing. "I'm all ears! I can't wait to not believe in it!" Man, you couldn't believe for a moment that this was the same robot that was created by Dr. Sloth's scientists for merciless purposes, the same one who had pointed a blaster at me when I had been uncovered for aiding the enemy...   
  
      I let go of Oceania's hand so she could go play on the grass, and she went chasing after some Draphlies, curious about the bugs' flight. I was still getting used to them, but they were so friendly, I almost felt bad for not yet fully trusting them again. After all, I was not exempt either, I had done much harm to others while working for the Doctor. We were both giving each other chances, just like we ran off together, me and little Oceania, and them. Is this what one calls friendship? I guessed so. I just needed to give them a chance, like they gave me a chance when I proposed our plan to run away from the one who ruled us all. We were all in this together.   
  
      Amidst my worries, I forgot what I had just been requested to do, and Availability appeared confused by my silence, and realizing that, I stammered, and started on my story.   
  
      "Ok, so you know that I was a scout for the Big Ol' Greenie, right? Like, most of my missions involved reconnaissance, right? Just getting to know what the Resistance and their allies were up to, right?" They nodded at me. "Well so, one of the times I went to Kreludor, to search for this secret operation from the orange Grundo faction there, hidden on the other side of the moon, alright? It's like, in this crater, it's so far back, and gets so much radiation from the Sun during the new moon phase of Kreludor, that it's a huge blind spot for any heat signal satellites to try to scour the area, so you need to go personally there, right?"  
  
      "Oh, yeah, I've heard of that place before- Well, I've heard some of Sloth's scientists chat about it one of the times I was being... Repaired..." Availability's unwavering enthusiasm seemed dwindled by the recalled memory, and I quickly tried to deviate their attention by continuing my story.   
  
      "Well, so, yeah, that place, I was told by the Doctor himself, 'My spies have brought me information of a secret flash operation happening on the dark side of Kreludor during the new moon phase, it is only for a night or two, also. Ridiculous, they hide like Miamouses from me, the cowards, but what can I do? I am a fearsome, imposing figure.' _"_ I interpreted that line with all sorts of mockery and exaggerated motions, and the robot Aisha giggled. I smiled wide and continued. _"_ 'Go do some reconnaissance, I want to know what are those lowly Grundos up to! Don't come back empty-handed!!' And so I went to Kreludor's dark side on my personal spaceship."  
  
      "So I am like, searching around, bouncing around, because you know how difficult it is to fly when the atmosphere is thin, like, there's not much to push, so it's like a dread, and it takes so much longer, so you might as well go by foot." The Aisha nodded in agreement, and Oceania let out a squeal, and I glanced over, but it was just her getting overexcited by a Moach hopping around, so I just let her be, and turn back to Availability. "And so I go around, looking for that stupid operation, and I see nothing, no base, not a single Grundo, not even those rock monsters that tend to form in Kreludor from the Kreludite and other stuff mutating, you know? And I'm thinking, 'Well, that's really odd, something's definitely not right, those monsters show up everywhere, are radiation levels that high here? Is this a safe zone for me? Should I speed up my search and get out of here before I get damaged at some level that is irreversible?' At that point, I was getting worried, and worse is, I couldn't even communicate back to the headquarters or any ships, I was completely on my own, and it had been hours, at least from what I could tell, because also all of my sensors and everything electronic was jammed. I was really in a pickle then, and I didn't know if I should call quit, because I was afraid that big green banana would punish me for not having any results." Availability seemed concerned.   
  
      "And so I stopped to rethink and restrategize, me, myself, on my own, what was my situation, and what would be the best course of action. That's when I noticed something odd: it was really bright there. And I mean, yes, the Sun was straight overhead from me, and with barely any atmosphere, the light was much more focused, but I had sun visors equipped specifically to deal with this issue, and yet they weren't being enough, there was this brightness on the place that was beyond the normal, and it was not coming from the Sun. No, it was coming from some other crater. A bright light like I had never seen, and honestly, that's when I started getting afraid, because I was now dealing with totally and completely unknown territory for me. I had no protocol, no plan, not even an idea of what to do... But yet I wanted to go explore and figure out what was that."  
  
      "And so I gathered up whatever courage I had left, held my ray gun in hand, and went. I didn't even bounce anymore at that point, just walking, and as I approached the border of that crater, and the light grew brighter with proximity, the fear I felt grew to an overwhelming level. My knees were shaking, I could barely stand on my own two feet, I felt weak, I could barely breathe, I was dizzy, the symptoms kept on going. I was wondering at that point if I was suffering the effects of radiation, my mind was all over the place, theorizing about the nature of that light, the correlation with my sensations, fearing for my fate, but I just needed to know what was that. It was not even something conscious anymore, it was almost like an impulse, almost like something else, the light itself, was telling me to come closer. At the border of the crater I stopped, because I had seen something." The Aisha was leaning forward, their full attention on me at this point.   
  
      "A shape, unrecognizable at first, but that quickly took a familiar form, approached me, gliding effortlessly." Availability winced at this. "The fear I felt paralyzed me at that point, I couldn't even point my ray gun, I couldn't even think at that moment, I was totally helpless, at the mercy of whatever was that. It quickly became a Korbat, an eventide Korbat in all white garments, but I could swear she was not a Korbat just moments ago, but she was so beautiful, beautiful and scary beyond boundaries. This Korbat emitted the brightest light I had ever seen, she was the source of the light I was following after, the light that rendered me useless. She glided over, and flew around me, giggling and smiling."  
  
_"_ 'Hey there, I have never seen one of your kind that had wings!' Her voice was magical, you know? Like, she made the faeries sound mundane, she made the faeries look mundane, you know? She was just like gliding around me, she played with my wings, opening and closing them to see how they worked-"  
  
     The robot interrupted, "No offense, but are you sure you didn't just pass out from radiation poisoning? Like, this story, it could just have been a fever dream of yours." 

     I smirked. "I told you you would not believe this story, didn't I? It is crazy, but I swear on my good name-"

     "You don't have a good name, Belle..." 

     I squinted. "Okay, okay, I swear on the Space Faerie's name that this story really happened, and I didn't just have a crazy and yet intricate fever dream." 

     "Okay, if you say so."

     I scoffed. "I do say so, Villy. I am not that far gone yet to not know dream from reality. Anyways, just listen, I'll tell you why I think this is for real, this really happened. where was I... Oh yeah, so, she was like, looking me all over, messing with my wings, my hair, my antennae, she grabbed my face, whatever, while asking me questions, like 'What's your name' and 'How did you get that cool haircut?' and stuff, and I can't respond, but I somehow gather enough courage and will to ask one question."  
  
     "'What are you?' And she stops, her smile fades quickly, and looks at me for like, the longest time ever, I'm staring at her, and she's staring at me, and after a while, I'm wondering if I asked the wrong question, fearing maybe something bad would happen, but then she just answers, 'I am a spark,' and I'm like, 'A spark??' and she's like, 'Yes,' and says nothing else, only looks at me, while I don't get what in Neopia does she mean by that. So I say, 'I don't get it,' and she responds right away, 'You don't get it because you're not from here.' So I'm beginning to come to my senses, and I'm just like, excuse me miss, but I try not to get snappy with her, and instead respond sincerely, 'No, I'm from Doran,' and she responds, 'Exactly, I am a Neopian spark, not a Doranian spark.' Honestly, I was at a loss by then, but she continued rambling on, 'It's not the first time I see a Doranian, they all don't get it, this moon is filled with them, but the Neopians, they get it, I don't need to even explain myself further.' And then maybe I am beginning to get what does she mean by all of that, and she probably notices that I am maybe beginning to get a notion, and she smiles brightly again."  
  
     "'See, now you're getting it! You're thinking like a Neopian!' but what even means that, am I right? And so I'm frowning now, and trying to figure the words to say next, but she puts a finger to my lips and says, 'Save it, I want you to figure out on your own.' So I just nod instinctively, and she flutters back some feet. 'Well, it was great to meet you! I hope to bounce into you in the future, and maybe you can tell me your name next!' And she just starts flying away, and I finally shout 'It's Belletye!' She turns around, and chuckles, and then responds, 'Nice to meet you, Belletye, then. You can call me... Depequi. Nice wings, by the way, how did you get them, Belletye from Doran?' And she just flew away after that, and I just collapsed to my knees and stared at her furthering brightness until it was gone in the horizon, and after I was left staring at the direction she had gone, trying to piece my thoughts together." I glanced over at Oceania once again, from the corner of my vision, just to check if she was alright, and she was in fact, to my relief. 

     Availability then snarkily asked, "And what is the answer to this complicated riddle about this mystery glowing Korbat?"  
  
     "Magic. She was magic." At this point, the Aisha started laughing so hard, their automated voice system echoing mechanically their mockery. "Magic??? Okay, I'm sorry, but you really lost me there. Are you saying that she was like, the incarnation of magic itself, or something like that?" I glowed red with embarrassment, and stumbled on my words.   
  
     "O-or something like that, yeah! Wh-why is it so hard to conceive that?? We are in a planet filled with magical beings, spells and charms and stuff are used everywhere, maybe magic itself can get so powerful at times, to like, manifest itself as a creature, you know?" The robot Aisha then shook his head and responded.   
  
     "I am sorry, but it just seems so far fetched. Magic is like a force in this world, fully manipulable and very powerful, yes, but forces in general don't have fully-speaking anthropomorphized representations of themselves, as far as I know, unless you can tell me about someone who met Gravity itself. Yes, there are particles that are condensations of those forces, but they're just particles, and they're short-lived, it's just... I'm sorry, but like, altogether, I feel like this whole story of yours, it can just be explained away with it being a bad hallucination or fever dream from radiation poisoning, which is most likely. Were you treated for it at least? Like, you said you were worried you were walking into a high radiation zone, there was not even Kreludan monsters there, it's definitely not a safe zone." I sighed, and conceded.   
  
     "Well, yes, I did end up on the labs for the next two or three weeks, yes, I actually had been affected down to a molecular level by the radiation. The scientists were surprised at my lab results, I was so badly damaged, they didn't even know how did I make it back to the ship, or flew back, because I was suffering its aftereffects for weeks, even after the treatments were over." Availability seemed very worried about it, but yet I remembered my trump card. "But, you know what, I just remembered, you know how I know it was for real?"  
  
     "Hm? How?" They asked, and I responded, grinning with satisfaction.   
  
     "So I went back, alright? And had to report to the big boss himself what I had found, well, not found, right? And then, so then I tell him what happened, how I had found nothing, nothing at all, save for that weird Korbat, and I tell him the story and stuff, and... He looks completely spooked by it. Like, as if he had seen a ghost or I had just made him relive his worst memory, you know? So much, he just dismisses me, with no grandiose speech, no reprimand, nothing, he just tells me to get to the labs right away, and nothing more. The big Doc, Mr. Evil himself, fearing a weirdo I met on the moon. And that, that's why I say, this was for real, I met that Korbat up there, it's no fever dream."  
  
     The robot Aisha nodded, "Okay..." Oceania came running up to me, speaking gibberish and bringing me a handful of grass flowers, and I smiled, baby-talking back to her. 


	3. Penguin

     I sighed as I sat down on the Neovian inn's bar stools, tired from the long trip I was taking. The red Kyrii behind the counter glanced at me once and smiled at me sweetly, and shouted, "Noah! Penguin's here!" She then turned to me and asked, "The same. my dear?" I nodded.   
  
     A skeleton-patterned Eyrie came down from the stairs to the inn rooms, and I waved at him, while the Kyrii served me a small pie and a bowl of soup. "Thank you," I said, handing her the Neopoints, and the Halloween Eyrie sat next to me and asked me.   
  
     "You're finally back here! So, what's the news? What happened to you these past months? Anywhere interesting you have gone? Any new adventures?"  
  
     "Noah, manners! You don't even let your poor friend eat before you start asking about everything!" The innkeeper Kyrii chastised the Eyrie while I dug into my pie, and then turned to me and asked. "How was your trip? How's Jasmine? Is she alright on that new job of hers?" I chuckled at the irony, and drank from my soup.   
  
     A loud yell came from the ground, as a spotted Kyrii with his face painted like a skull jumped out of a trap door, and a couple of Kookiths flew out with him. "Mother! His name's Nohbdy! He asked to be called like that! Also, we've got Kookiths in the cellar again. May I have the broom to whack them out of there?"  
  
     "Again??? And I will not, why, that's the awful name the townspets gave him!" She turned to Noah. "Why on Fyora's name would you want to be called that? You hate it, you used to cry when you were younger and was called that!" I had finished my pie, and now had my attention fully turned to the soup in my bowl.   
  
     "Because he wants to own that name! So they can't use it against him!" The spotted Kyrii said proudly and loudly.   
  
     "I think it's rather stupid," I heard from right behind me, and I looked over my shoulder to find a third, young and pink Kyrii holding a clown puppet, her red eyes glaring. "It's pretentious and stupid, but that's the two doofuses for you, they had the idea together."  
  
     The Kyrii mother now chastised the young Kyrii. "Mariah! Language, young lady!" And then turned to the Eyrie, leaning over the counter, with a worried and yet severe look on her face. I kept on minding my own business, and finished my soup while they argued. "But I do agree, that's a rather- Er- Bad idea for a name, sincerely speaking, it's an awful name for you to bear, considering all you have gone through over the years. You cannot be serious about calling yourself that? No, I won't allow it."The Halloween Eyrie looked over at his spotted friend and hesitated, but then sighed.   
  
     "Fine, Mrs. Jones." The red Kyrii smiled sweetly, and then finally turned back to me.   
  
     "I am sorry for the interruptions, Penguin." I shook my head.   
  
     "No worries. At least I got to finish my food first, before I am pressed to tell everything about my life. And to answer your question, Jazzy is fine, working under her father on her father's company is pushing some buttons, they don't really get along, but as long as it works in the business setting, as she says." I smiled at her, and she chuckled back.   
  
     "Oh, I'm so sorry, we are all a bit too eager to live vicariously through your experiences, you know? We have quite some different visitors with unique stories for us every time, but yours are usually the most intriguing! You travel everywhere, you know so many 'pets, there must never be a boring day in your life!" I laughed.   
  
     "Thank you, Martha, I guess there are perks to my type of work. Although I have been spending quite a large amount of time as of lately in Tyrannia and Terror Mountain, because of the latest group I've been hired for." The spotted Kyrii and the Halloween Eyrie were already awestruck just by the mention of those lands. "You know how there was this strange obelisk that was unearthed there, and multiple factions had gone to there, trying to claim its possession, and a war broke out?"  
  
     The red Kyrii nodded. "So I've heard from other travelers. Dreadful, awful, all that fighting..." I nodded, and continued.   
  
     "Well, I was hired by one of the factions to work on field for the duration of the war, full time." She frowned, while Lucas, Noah and Mariah glimmered with excitement.   
  
     The Halloween Eyrie spurted out quickly. "You were hired to fight? Are you a mercenary now, then??"   
  
     "Amazing! You were fighting?? Did you use a sword or a mallet or what?? OH maybe you could use my favorite weapons, daggers!!" The spotted Kyrii made swinging motions on the air, as if stabbing something invisible.   
  
     "Did you get hurt? Do you have a scar? Is it ugly?" The pink Kyrii approached more, with a mischievous look. "Can we see it??"  
  
     "You can't be serious you too were fighting in that awful war??" The red Kyrii looked both disappointed and very worried.   
  
     "No, I didn't fight, I don't have any interest in that. I was hired to make weapons, by the Thieves' Guild-" The Kyriis and the Eyrie all interrupted me at the same time, but their expression varied from awe to shock.   
  
     "THE THIEVES' GUILD???" Okay, maybe this was beginning to get really annoying at this point, and it didn't help other Neopets at the inn had looked over to see what was going on. I gritted my teeth together, inhaled, and responded as calm as I could be.   
  
     "Yes... But I'm doing honest work. Yes, I know, for thieves, but they had the better offer." The teenagers and the kid exclaimed in excited approval of what I was doing, but the mother didn't look so fond of what I had said. "They are the most trustworthy of the factions, at least they're no monsters or cultish associations or even those scholars who seem so eager to do anything to acquire 'knowledge.' Besides, the Guild has been there for me since I was a young Neopet, way back to even my first memories, some of their members in Moltara cared for me, since no one wanted me. And I have been helping them in exchange with what I know best." Martha wasn't convinced.   
  
     "I care for you, as much as I care for my children, and Noah, and you make me concerned. Why can't you do honest work outside of that? I don't know, find a job somewhere, I could open a spot in the inn so you can work as well, Noah will be working at the Fairgrounds soon, I will be needing a new assistant." I shook my head.   
  
     "Thank you, Martha, but I'll have to pass. But don't worry, eventually I'll get myself out of this messy business, I hope." She looked at me, sad and worried.   
  
     "I hope sooner than later..." She looked into the kitchen, and noticing something that needed her attention, she excused herself and rushed in.   
  
     "Mother, can you get the broom?" Lucas remembered, and his mother responded, asking for him to wait. I remembered then one particular story I was saving up for the three to listen to.   
  
     "Hey, I have a very strange story this time to tell you, it happened to me when I got lost in the wild parts of Terror Mountain, and that was the closest call I've had in a long time, but yet was when I met some really peculiar folks." I didn't even need to finish the sentence to have Noah, Lucas and Mariah all sitting around me. I glanced over at the kitchen door, before continuing. "Don't tell your mother, she may not take it well, mainly the close call part."   
  
     "She won't hear a thing from us!" The older Kyrii exclaimed.   
  
     "We promise." The Eyrie said.   
  
     "Alright. So I had business to take care of in Terror Mountain some months back, and out of my own recklessness, decided to take the walking path up the plateaus from Tyrannia to there, heading into the wintery northern borders that way. I thought I had everything under my control, and for the first days heading up north, I had, but I didn't foresee I'd catch such bad weather on the wild plains of Terror Mountain."   
  
     "While wandering, I ended up lost in a forest there, and worse, I lost my compass when I fell in a hidden hole under the snow, and had to rely on trying to figure out which way is north from the little I could make of the sun through the storm clouds. Now, when I say the weather was bad, I meant it, as in, it was so cold when I finally made it out of the woods and to what I presumed to be another frozen plains, I was quickly losing body heat to the point I could see myself solidifying, my magma was cooling into rock. I kept on fighting through the weather, hoping to find some cave or something to hide from the storm, but the storm was so strong there, I could barely see a palm ahead of me."   
  
     The three of them were the most quiet I've ever seen, completely engulfed by my story. _"And yet, that's when I saw something in the distance, where I presumed to be the eye of the storm."_


	4. Haute

     Skipping from peak to peak of the ice that permanently covered the lake near my house, I sang a little rhyme I made up on the go. "Ice skate, blue gate, spoonful of marmalade. Look at the cake I made. Why, thank you, I know it's great." The strong winds of the snowstorm made me so happy, I loved it so much, that was my favorite type of weather! I pirouetted on the slippery tip of one of the peaks, and jumped onto the lake border, into a fluffy pile of fresh snow, giggling as my silver slippers sank foot-deep into it. Kicking the snow onto the wind, a gale picked it up, blasting it off onto the the distance. I kicked some more snow around, until the pile flattened and I could see the border of the lake ice.   
  
     "Fluffy snow is like a pillow, shiny and glittery and so cold! How cold? I don't know, ask the Pteri made of gold." I continued on singing my made up rhymes as I kicked the snow out of my way, making a trail that quickly vanished behind me. Another gale blasted through, and I almost lost my scarf to the wind. I squealed, and caught it midflight, and wrapped around my neck tighter, I didn't want to lose Mama's scarf that she made for me. I didn't need it, I didn't feel cold, but Mama took so long making it, struggling to figure out how to knit, and gave it to me for Winter Starlight, so I wouldn't lose it no matter what.   
  
     Squinting, I looked overhead, and could barely make a clearing on the storm. "The eye! Wow, who would know it was so close to home! Oooh, this is exciting! I can't wait to test out my new trick!" I knew Mama was against me using my magic to alter the weather, or anything major, she called it the Batterfly effect of magic or whatever was that she called, but there was no one living nearby for miles, it's not like anyone could get hurt, right? I just wanted to try something, Mama would never know, she was out for the day either ways, getting supplies and food for the month, and would only come back at dusk. I threaded through the snow, making my way towards the eye.   
  
     Upon reaching there, the sky seemed to clear up right overhead, the bright, pale light of the Sun glistening against my frozen skin. I looked around, the storm seemed pretty strong already, but I wondered, how much stronger could I make? I concentrated like Mama taught me, drawing as much power as I could get out, which at first didn't make any difference, but then I noticed ice spreading from below me beyond, hardening the snow and slush into a plate, and I could maybe see the winds beyond the wall of the eye picking up? It seemed the blizzard was running by noticeable faster now, and the plate below me began to snap audibly, as the ice was cooled into lower and lower temperatures. The air seemed to feel thicker too, with the few snowflakes that formed around me drifting slowly through the heavy atmosphere. "Yes, it's working!" I said, already strained. This was hard, harder than what I expected.   
  
     I noticed the walls of the eye closing in slowly as the wind speed picked up, and the blizzard seemed to swipe the ground snow up now, picking the freshly packed snow back up in the air and tossing it around. This was exciting, albeit quickly exhausting, but I didn't want to stop. More, more, I felt such a rush, this was awesome, and I didn't want to stop! The rushing winds closed in as I kept on forcing my power out, and deep below me, I felt something rumble, probably the ground? I don't know, I couldn't tell, I wasn't paying attention, I just wanted to see how far could my powers go, this was amazing, I was amazing-   
  
     Something in the distance caught my attention, and I snapped out of it, startled by the unknown shape. There was something walking out of those woods! The storm immediately began to lose momentum, since I was no longer supplying power to it, and the storm cone began to open. I froze in place, completely unresponsive as I watched the Neopet reach out to me, I couldn't even hear their plea, before collapsing to the ground.   
  
     After some moments where I didn't even know what to do, I thought of only one thing. I slowly approached the unconscious strange Neopet, picked up the arms, and started dragging the body, and the travel bag, through the snow.


	5. Efrosinea

     I finally arrived at the cottage with my basket, after hours of fighting through the blizzard out there, and the very first thing I see and hear when I open the door is Haute yelling at me incoherently, rushing towards me while fumbling on about a storm and magic and a Neopet from the woods. "Woah, slow down, Haute, what happened?" I looked overhead to see that the fireplace was on, which was odd, but then I noticed the bundle of covers, bedsheets, tablecloths and other collections of cloths from around the house all covering something, and I guess things began to make some sense.   
  
     "There was this- This 'pet, I didn't know that he was around! I just was practicing my magic! I might have gone a bit overboard though- B-but I didn't do anything bad! I-I just messed with the storm a bit- A-and then he just walked out of the woods, and just collapsed! I didn't know what to do! Then I just decided to bring him here and try to make him warm, like, with blankets and the fireplace but I don't know what else to do, he's not waking up, I don't know what-" I held up my hand to ask her to stop talking, I understood what had happened, and I was quite upset she had disobeyed my orders, but that was for a later time, first, to solve the issue at hand.   
  
     "Alright, I think I've understood now. Well, let's see to this Neopet, then." I approached the bundle, and saw that a Bruce was buried under all those covers. From his faded glow through the grooves of his skin, I could tell he was Moltaran, a magma Neopet, I think it was called, if my memory wasn't wrong. What was he doing here, so far away from his homeland or even civilization? I started taking off some of the covers. "That's too many covers, I know you wanted to help him, but this can make it difficult for him to breathe." The Acara was distraught, I could tell she was worried sick, but her nervousness could hinder us both on helping the Bruce, so I told her, "Haute, go get a face towel to warm over the fireplace, we're doing some compresses." Neither of us knew any fire magic or Moltaran magic, but I hoped that at least some good old fashioned first aid would help this Bruce get his glow back. Haute stumbled off to get the towels, while I checked his temperature.   
  
     Some time later, after we had applied multiple heat compresses until he warmed up, and moved him gingerly from the floor to the sofa, I was busy lecturing Haute on the dangers of messing with weather conditions and using magic in such large scale carelessly, yet again, when the Neopet began to move.   
  
     "Urgh..." I hurried over to see how he was doing, and Haute came right after, and stood behind the couch, guilty-faced.   
  
     "Easy, don't want to move too much yet..." He looked around, dazed and confused.   
  
     "Where... Am I?" He looked at Haute, and frowned when I presumed he recognized her. "You... I remember seeing you out there, in the storm..." He looked at me, and seemed appalled by my face. "Who are you both?? What happened?? Where am I??" Not so shocking for me, I wasn't the most appealing Neopet out there, but Haute looked upset by his reaction.   
  
     "My name's Efrosinea, and this is my daughter, Haute. She took you in after you passed out from the cold, you got hit with a bad case of hypothermia from wandering around these parts of the wilds of Terror Mountain during a big snow storm." The Bruce widened his eyes upon learning where he was. "What is your name, and what were you doing here? No offense, but we don't get many visitors around here, it is very strange that you would head to here, mainly considering you're not even a surface 'pet. Moltaran, right?" He nodded.   
  
     "I'm Penguin, I am Moltaran indeed, but haven't been to my homeland in years... Moved out, I stay mostly at Terror Mountain and Central Neopia, besides other places... I visit." So Moltarans are mingling more with other Neopians? That was a new, last I heard years ago they were a very isolated race, and I hadn't heard of any of them surfacing. I would definitely ask him more about it later, he seemed a bit light on the head still for asking him about history updates.   
  
     "Figures, I knew you were a magma Neopet when I first saw you."  
  
     "Moltaran? Magma Neopet??" Haute interrupted, confused. I nodded, proceeding to explain to her some of Neopian lore.   
  
     "Moltara is a distant land of Neopia that resides near its core, within the planet. The 'pets there are all made out of magma, magical molten rock, which is why he looks like that." The Acara was awed at learning a bit more about the Bruce and his origins, while he mustered some strength to answer me.   
  
     "I was on a trip, from Tyrannia to Happy Valley... I must have gotten really lost, if you said these are the wilds of Terror Mountain. Though, it was near impossible to see out there on the storm, I didn't know the weather would be so bad up here." I nodded, agreeing with his last statement.   
  
     "This storm has even took us by surprise for its strength, normally the polar vortex does cause some storms surrounding the base of the mountains, but this has been unusual even for us. You must really be more careful, had Haute not rescued you, you'd have turned into stone." I said the last part more sternly, as a warning for this traveler, and he frowned at first, but understood my message. "Well, you're welcome to stay for as long as you need here, the storm will rage for a few more days, so I've heard, and you do need to rest before you get yourself out there, you're still weak from the hypothermia. I will make a hearty soup tonight, to help you recover." He nodded, I could tell how weary he was from his lethargic expression. I looked at Haute. "You keep an eye on him, alright? If he shows any signs of worsening, yell for me." Haute nodded frantically. This was going to be a long night for me and Haute.   
  
     The next morning, I woke up from my slumber on the living room chair with a noise like someone was sifting through a bag, and saw the Bruce presumably rearranging his travel backpack. I looked at the window, and saw that the storm hadn't cleared up yet. I coughed to clear my throat, and he looked at me. "Heading out so soon? It's dangerous out there, the storm still hasn't subdued." Penguin looked at me, and I could tell from his hesitation that something was up.   
  
     "Oh, no, I was just checking to see if my compass wasn't in here after all..." He put away the rest of his things, and shut the backpack. "It wasn't. I lost it." I tried to offer him help, as a way to comfort him.   
  
     "I can help you find it once the storm stops. You can lead the way, showing me where you've been, and I can help you dig around the snow." Penguin shook his head.   
  
     "I-it's fine. Really. I will make do." Could it be he was afraid of us? Or maybe I was reading too much into it. I noticed a ring on his left hand, and tried to ease the tension by asking about it.   
  
     "Who's the lucky girl?" Penguin looked at me, clearly freaked out about it, and stuttered a half-hearted response.   
  
     "I- Um- She's this Buzz from Neopia Central..." Then he trailed off.   
  
     "What's the matter? Is something wrong?" His hesitation grew until he decided to confess what was on his mind.   
  
     "You have to forgive me for this, considering how you healed me, and cared for me, and watched over me overnight, I don't have any right to say this... But I have some... Worries... Regarding the two of you. I mean, you seem very nice, but, as someone who travels often, I am very aware that excess niceness can sometimes raise a red flag... I also have some concerns about the... Nature of you two..." Oh Fyora, here we go. "I mean, no offense, but you are a... Frozen skeleton... Accurate, I gave him that. And your daughter, she is all made of ice! And I saw her at the eye of the storm, right before passing out, using magic to alter the storm, to strengthen it... Which I chalked up to just a strange hallucination before passing out.. But waking up, I overheard you talking about it to your daughter..." I could see where he was coming from, thinking that probably we set this up somehow... But yet, I still felt offended that he thought that of us, mainly of Haute.   
  
     "Haute has no ill intents, I can guarantee you that! She just can get rather reckless with her powers, and ignore my own warnings, but she would never want to harm anyone-"  
  
     "My apologies, I didn't mean to offend your daughter." The Bruce looked ashamed, but I was not done yet.   
  
     "But yes, we do have magic, and we are rather peculiar looking, as well as we live isolated in the wilds, and that can be rather off-putting, mainly with so many stories of creatures of all kinds, Faerie and Neopet and others, that are dangerous, and live isolated from society, luring weary travelers to their traps, and doing unspeakable things with those who wander off. But we are nothing like that." I didn't think if I just said that he'd believe anymore that he did then. "We're no monsters... Despite my rather unusual appearance, or our powers. We're ice Neopets, kind of like Moltarans, but instead of magma, we are made from living, magical ice. I think that helped, because he seemed to understand, and was a bit more at ease to learn that. We hail from a tribe of alikes, ice 'pets of all kinds, living deep within the woods in a village of our own, and some of us were gifted beyond being made from ice, we can use different types of ice magic."  
  
     "I didn't know there were others like us out there, but then again, us Moltarans weren't even known to the world until a few years back, when this explorer and his group came down to there, and helped us with the destabilized core." Wow, no one had told me about this. Am I this isolated from the rest of Neopia? "I am sorry I mistook you for a monster... But you said you were from a village of your kin? Why aren't you with them?"  
  
     I hesitated this time, but not wanting to tell a long story, I cut it short. "We had some disagreements, me and the others of my kind, so I left. I prefer to live alone, either ways, just me and my daughter, it's more peaceful this way." I gave a sour smile and nodded, and he understood enough to not want to follow up on that specific topic.   
  
     "I- Uh- I'm so sorry for having misjudged you so much. I am ashamed of having suspected of you, both of you." I shrugged.   
  
     "It's okay, you're not the first one who has feared me, or my daughter as a matter of fact, because they don't know us. Well... I got up from my chair, and fixed my garments. I'm going to go make breakfast and wake up that sleepyhead, I'm brewing some tea. You're welcome to stay and have breakfast with us, or leave, although my warnings about the severe weather remain." I started heading down to the kitchen, when I heard his answer.   
  
     "I can help you with breakfast, if you don't mind." I looked over my shoulder and smiled.   
  
     "Why, thank you, I could use an extra hand to cook faster."


	6. Jasmine

_"_ Bye snazzy Jazzy! See you next week then!" The brunette Krawk waved goodbye as she walked away from the cafe we were just chatting for the past hour or so, holding her pink purse in hand.   
  
     "Bye Bea-boo!" I waved and started heading down to my next appointment with an odd but old friend of mine, someone I had been trying to bring into my- Well, my father's business for a long time.   
  
     I met him years back, when I was still in college, in one of those fundraisers my sorority gals and I did to benefit causes, I think it was to bring funds to the Pound. I remember he was strange, this older Poogle dressed rather oddly to put it politely, and we were all hesitant when he showed up to our event at the park, but I, as the unanimously elected sorority president, welcomed him and quickly learned who he was and what he did. An inventor, who would guess, and back then he was all on his own, trying to make his breakthrough, I thought it was fascinating. Later on I learned where he lived, and began visiting weekly to see what he was doing, along with this Kacheek named Timmy who was from the inventor's neighborhood.   
  
     It was a really fun experience, seeing him brainstorm ideas, make prototypes and testing out theories, a lot of times things went wrong, and the results would get really chaotic, explosions, disasters, but he assured us, when we were soot-covered and messy-haired, it was all part of the process, and he'd go back to the drawing board, back to the blueprints, figure out why things went wrong, what differed in the theory from the practice. I helped him with purchasing materials he needed, many a time out of my own pocket, and even helped with assembling, a lot of wrench twisting and bolt-tightening. Those were fun times, I stopped coming over as much after I got my degree, and started working in my father's company, but I still visited from time to time, to see what he was up to as of recently, and to catch up with Timmy.   
  
     Changing the subject a bit, I started thinking about my proposal I did to him some weeks back. We could really benefit from an inventor, and he had already sold an invention of his to another company for quite the hefty profit, imagine if he was working with our company? But it was not just profits that I had in mind, no, I wasn't that cold, I also just thought it would be cool to have him on the team. Nepotism? Maybe, but with his brainpower and potential, it could work. Besides that it would be nice to add some personnel of my own to the company, so I am not so vastly outnumbered in any decisions against my father.   
  
     Upon arriving at his front yard, which was decorated with his best failed attempts, all which he felt bad enough to not want to throw them out, and thus repurposed them, as tree garlands, ornaments, lights in between others, I heard unfamiliar voices. Huh, so he does get visitors besides me and Timmy, and speaking of Timmy, I could hear him as soon as I approached to knock on the door, discussing with the louder of the new visitors.   
  
     "Oh, no, it's not self-absorption, it's irony. I'm wearing those Kacheek pants not because I really like them, I just got them on sale for a quarter of the price, but I wear them ironically, because they're just so ugly."  
  
     "Heh, but isn't using the irony argument for clothes just a good way to disguise that you have bad tastes? You could be wearing the tackiest necklace or the weirdest shirt ever, but as long as you say it's ironic, you can get away with it."  
  
     I knocked on the door and yelled in response to the two arguing. "You know, even the tackiest of necklaces can work if you know how to match with the rest of the outfit."  
  
     "Heya Jazzy!" Timmy shouted, and then I heard Mr. PoogleButts.   
  
     "Ah, Jasmine, do come in, the door is unlocked! I would open the door, but I've got my hands full here!" I opened the door and first saw who was talking to Timmy, a faerie Grundo with a rough overall look, sporting an undercut and tomboyish clothes, and both were in the living room. I also noticed a baby Grundo girl who was hitting some scrap metal parts together on the living room floor, babbling happily, and lastly I saw the inventor himself at the kitchen that followed from the living room, working on a robot Aisha. "Welcome, welcome! Glad you could make it this week, also, that's Belletye discussing fashion with Timmy," the faerie Grundo waved, "Here is Availability, I'm oiling their joints," the robot Aisha greeted me, "and there's little Oceania, I can hear from here, but not see, but she is happy, I can tell." The Poogle chuckled heartily, and so did Belletye.   
  
     Heh, indeed she is, she is in the process of flattening two pieces of scrap for you, ol' pet, she wants to help." Mr. PoogleButts roared in laughter, and Oceania squealed, laughing along without knowing what was happening.   
  
     "Why, thank you then, what a good job you're doing, Oceania!" I entered the messy house while still listening to the others praise the little girl. Trying to break the ice a bit, I followed up by asking about the baby Grundo.   
  
     "Is she yours? Who's the father?" I asked the adult Grundo, who gave me a confused look.   
  
     "What?" And then she got it, and responded. "Oh, no, no, no. She's not my baby, I mean, I am caring for her, but she's- She's an orphan, yeah. I took her in because- Well, she had no one to stay with."  
  
     "Oh, that's nice, so you're raising her now, right? So that makes you her adoptive mother, is your robot friend then-"  
  
     "What? Villy? No, they're a friend. And no, I'm not her mother, I mean, I'm just- Caring for her, for now, until I find someone who would take her in. It's nothing permanent, it's not like I could raise a child either ways, not in my current condition." Oh, yikes, I think I might have assumed a bit too much. Noticing that Belletye seemed sort of off-put by my questions, I tried to change the conversation to something a little bit less touchy.   
  
     "So, what's up? Anything cool happening here? Any new inventions for us to test?" I put my surpique clutch down on the coffee table while Mr. PoogleButts responded.   
  
     "Well, I do have something on the works, a machine- But I do need some programming on it, to get it to do basic functions. Belletye has offered me to do that part, as an exchange for helping on doing maintenance of her robotic buddy here." Belletye nodded.   
  
     "A-yup, I asked Mr. PoogleButts here to give my buddy a fixer upper, they get all creaky on the joints you know? But since I have no job or much 'point to pay the good doc, I uh- Offered my services, haha."  
  
     "Oh really? But where did you learn how to code?" I wondered, dealing with computers in general was an unusual ability, only a few in Neopia Central even had access to one of those, and they were all in private groups like the Defenders of Neopia, or big businesses.   
  
     "I worked at the Space Station, we three come from there. You really pick up some helpful abilities when doing odd jobs, haha." Now that was interesting, what were those zero-gravity dwelling, technologically advanced Neopets doing in this humble little city of Neopia Central?   
  
     "Huh, interesting... Why did you come down to here? Isn't this city a bit- Well, outdated and simple-minded for you?" I noticed Timmy looking at me weird, like he was actually offended by such a silly comment. "Actually, the whole planet does not dare compare to Virtupets and Kreludor, so I've heard, doesn't it?" The Grundo squinted a bit, she didn't seem so sure on whether I was being serious or not, as far as I could tell. I wondered, why? She then grinned and answered.   
  
     "Nah, Virtupets? Didn't really make our style. I mean, past all the technical mumbo-jumbo and machinery and stuff, it is just a glamorized overcrowded floating tin can in space. Also, there's just too much turmoil up there, with those battles and rebellions and spying and all the good versus evil and stuff, and what, with that Sloth guy, and his minions doing all sorts of mess in space, it just wasn't for us. I prefer it here, honestly." Huh, so they were running away from the problems up in space. I didn't really follow news about Virtupets or Kreludor, only what came down to here, but I had heard of Dr. Sloth, a fearsome villain that launched an attack in Neopia when I was very young, bringing the space station originally as a weapon and center of operations, and who had returned some years back a second time, trying to retake his space station. But thankfully he was defeated both times by the Space Faerie, and Neopets who had come to aid. Actually, I had last heard he was trapped in the Space Faerie's talisman or something of the sort.   
  
     "Wasn't that guy trapped or something of the sort? I thought he was out of commission." The faerie Grundo wasn't so cheerful anymore, but she tried keeping a carefree facade so hard, I could just tell I had hit a sore point.   
  
     "Well, not anymore... He's back in commission." Timmy and Mr. PoogleButts both looked at her and Availability in concern and pity, probably wondering what was happening up in space. Noticing that, she grinned, and proceeded to tell a joke to lighten the mood. "Heh, he's like a petpetpet infestation on your petpet, you can spray and fine comb and pass all sorts of chemicals, but they just keep on coming back to making yours and your petpet's life hard." Was it just my impression, or did the last part sound spiteful? Okay, awkward... So awkward, no one said a thing for a moment or two, only noise came from the baby who was now rubbing the carpet with a piece of scrap metal. "But hey! We're here now, right? Past's the past, am I right, or am I right, Villy?" The robot Aisha didn't respond, but Oceania squealed again in joy, agreeing nonverbally with Belletye. The faerie Grundo smiled, and then Mr. PoogleButts saved the situation with his announcement.   
  
     "Okay, Belle, my dear, your pal here is all set for now. All of their joints have been oiled, all of the rust removed, all of the circuitry has been checked, they are pristine now." He patted Availability on the back. "You can hop off the kitchen counter now." The robot jumped off, and rushed over to Belletye.   
  
     "You'll have to excuse us for a second," the robot said, and then signaled to his friend. The two went outside, and we could hear them discussing out there.   
  
     "Awkward..." I looked at Timmy and Mr. PoogleButts, feeling guilty for whatever was happening now. The Kacheek didn't know how to respond, but the Poogle waved his hand.   
  
     "I'm sure you didn't mean to upset her, dear. You just didn't know enough about her to avoid it happening, you just met her. Just let them sort themselves out, and things will be fine." I hope so, I was not usually the type to mess up like this. This was already eating at me, and it didn't help that Mr. PoogleButts was trying so hard to save the situation I messed up. "Also, I forgot to mention, but there's fresh tea and and some nice little butter cookies I picked up at the grocery store-"  
  
     "Excuse me, I've got to go apologize." I interrupted the inventor, and rushed out of the door to the two Neopets mid-discussion. "Belletye, Availability, I'm so sorry if I have offended or upset you in any way, that was not the intent."  
  
     "Yeah, yeah, you're sorry, so sorry for us, and our situation, and how we are, why don't you just take your sorriness and leave us be, okay? Not really up to feeling pitied by some spoiled daddy's little girl at this moment." The Grundo spitefully retorted, making me feel taken aback by how brash she was.   
  
     "Look, I know we've started on the wrong foot. It's my fault-" But she didn't even let me finish my sentence.   
  
     "Aw, shut up. Get outta here, will ya? What are you even doing here? Your pampered self is clearly raised way too above apologizing to paupers like us-"  
  
     "Belletye, that's enough!" Okay, now my blood was boiling, who did she think she is??   
  
     "Excuse me?? These are MY friends you're with, and I'M visiting them, YOU are the stranger. Don't like it? Maybe YOU should 'get outta here' if I'm bothering you so much!" The Grundo began to advance towards me, but the Aisha stopped her, and I stood my ground to not seem weak, but I was sort of terrified for a split second of what she would do to me if it wasn't for her friend, she seemed almost like a mutant Gruslen, ready to pounce and attack me, angry beyond reasoning.   
  
     "Enough! Stop it! Cut it out, Belletye!" The robot Aisha struggled to keep her back, and, realizing that I wasn't helping, and yet had only provoked the Grundo, rushed back in before anything else happened, and almost bumped onto Timmy and Mr. PoogleButts, who were both behind the door, listening. I glowed red in shame, how did I manage to cause this big mess?   
  
     "I will... Go out to talk to them." Mr. PoogleButts exited, and it was just Timmy and I now. I rubbed on my ring on my left hand, and sighed in defeat.   
  
     "I- I didn't make much of a good first impression, did I?" Timmy shook his head.   
  
     "Don't think so..." How embarrassing, I needed to make this up somehow. While I brainstormed some ideas, the three Neopets came back in. Mr. PoogleButts nodded to me, affirming that he had settled the issue, and Availability just walked in, but Belletye just glared at me the moment she stepped into the house. Oh Fyora.   
  
     Mr. PoogleButts served the tea and cookies to the whole group, and started talking about his invention, and soon Timmy, Belletye and Availability were all chattering about it, and Oceania joined in too, after begging to sit at the table and then proceeding to stuff her face with cookies, but I was too distracted this time to listen in. I was brainstorming a way to apologize to that Grundo before I got cornered on the nearest alley or something of the sort, I thought jokingly, but yet, I sort of worried on the back of my mind that this may be a possibility. Feeling guilty for even thinking of this, I repudiated myself for even thinking this.   
  
     Digressing, I started thinking about my joking topic. I guess my father was right after all for worrying about my safety. I never really took it seriously, because I'm usually too confident that nothing would ever happen to me, but who really knows? I know I didn't know for sure. It was about time I found myself a bodyguard. The very first idea I had, an ironic joke mostly, was the very Grundo who had just almost attacked me earlier, had his friend not held her back. Hotheaded like her, she seemed like the type who would win in a physical confrontation, I could tell by her build that she was no stranger to that. She reminded me in a sort of way of him, I noted while spinning the ring on my finger, and I felt a pang. No, no, not now, one off topic at a time, I thought while putting down my hands. What else... Oh yeah, also, she was handy, knew coding, and possibly other interesting things, as she apparently worked on different jobs on space.   
  
     That's it, I knew how to approach her. I'm going to offer her the position of being my personal bodyguard... Wait, she may not like that. Okay, I'd call her my assistant. That's a nice way to apologize, isn't it? I hoped so, because that's the guns I'd stick to. Now, just to wait for the perfect time...   
  
     After the tea break, I awaited for a time where Belletye was alone, and the perfect time came up when she went to was cleaning up Oceania's mess, apparently they were leaving already, I couldn't just let her slip like that. I approached the faerie Grundo when she was about done, but her face switched quickly from her caring, motherly look that she had with the baby, to a contemptuous scowl when she noticed me approaching.   
  
     "What do you want now?" Yeesh.   
  
     "I just wanted to talk-"  
  
     "We've talked enough-"  
  
     "Why won't you let me apologize to you??" Oh, Fyora, why did I sound so whiny right now? Stop it, Jasmine, hold your composure!   
  
     "Because I've had enough with you, and you've ruined my hangout here. Now can we go, or are you going to keep on bother me?" She zipped up her duffel bag and strapped it around her shoulder. Okay, here went nothing.   
  
     "Um- Yes, actually. I really want to apologize for my behavior today, and- I raised my voice before she could cut me off. And- Also, I wanted to know, since you said you had no job currently, if you would be interested in one." She gave me a really confused look, as to expect, that was my tactic, after all, to get past her defensiveness. I inhaled. "Look, I messed up, okay? I assumed too much, and I don't know how things are up there in space, and I guess I shouldn't have gotten so nosy, but I didn't mean it to be malicious, or to snob any of you, I am just curious, and wanted to get to know you, I mean, you're so cool and different, what, with your abilities and even how you look, I just wanted to befriend you. I'm sorry if I ended up offending or belittling you, that's the opposite of what I meant to do. And sorry for telling you that outside, I really shouldn't have burst out like that, and I didn't mean it either." Okay, that was okay, right? Belletye thought for a second, and then sighed.   
  
     "Aw, shoot, I guess I need to apologize too, I overreacted, and interpreted things the worst way possible." Oh goodie, she accepted my apology. "Also, sorry for scaring you out there, I need to control my temper better, I could tell you could barely move from fear."  
  
     "Don't be so sure, I do know a bit of self-defense." I remarked snarkily, and she chuckled. "I could have at least gained some time to run away from you." And now she laughed, that's great. "But- Uh, honestly, back to the job thing, I wanted to ask if you were interested in being my personal assistant, I work in my father's company, and I have been looking for someone to help me along with the tasks-"  
  
     "As in, secretarial work?" She wondered.   
  
     "Yes, but other types of work too, basically anything I need, I would ask you to help me along, so to put it loosely." Belletye pondered.   
  
     "I mean, why me? Can't you get like, some cute-looking petite girl to help you or something, who is more presentable or whatever?"  
  
     "Yeah, but they don't have the experience you have, I was looking for someone more of a jack-of-all-trades, and you said you worked in different jobs up in space, and that's exactly the type of personnel I'm looking for, of course you'll need to do an interview and stuff before getting hired, but I want you working for me, so you'll definitely get hired, it's just because it's got to be official and stuff. About the pay, we can discuss with my father, but it can be generous. Isn't it a good opportunity?" Belletye looked at me, I could tell she seemed both suspicious and very interested on the proposal. I hoped that I had swayed her, I think I had swayed her, her suspicion had lessened, and albeit unsure, she did seem interested in her reply.   
  
     "I'll... I dunno. I'll think about it."


	7. Belladonna

     While instructing my troop representatives about our presentation of the semestral report on the Eastern borders of the Empire on our way to the Palace, I had noticed someone headed the same direction as us, and so did the others in my troop, and my direct subordinate asked a question.   
  
     "Hey, Donny, isn't that Elephante from that royal family from one of the small Eastern kingdoms?" Asked the Mynci in border patrol outfit. I studied him quickly, trying to figure out what was going on. The young Elephante was wearing their traditional garnments, ornated with cultural and Elephante motifs, a turban with a long feather and a royal gem, and a heavy fur cape.... Those motifs... Hathidesa, was it? They were one of the few last subjugated kingdoms of the Empire that still resisted against the Shenkuuvian Empire, but most of their conflict is diplomatic, since their numbers were far too small to stand a chance against the Imperial Army. The Border Patrol had some squabbles with them every so often, nothing serious, but they were constantly complaining on how we restrained their free movement through the mountain range, and they felt like the Empire was trapping them in. I couldn't see any weapon on him, no bow nor quills, no sword, not even a cane, so I wondered what was his purpose in the Capital.   
  
     "Huh, he is, but I see no weapons on him. Maybe it's peace negotiations?" A Techo officer scoffed.   
  
     "To finally end their four-hundred year 'war' with the Shenkuuvian Empire? Thank Fyora, I had thought we would have to have more 'battles' with them." He made quotation marks with his hand in mockery, and while the other guards chuckled, I noticed the Elephante prince glancing over resentfully at us before hurrying ahead of us, and decided to intervene.   
  
     "Atsui, enough, we're not here to comment on diplomacy. If you want to dwell in political negotiations and not border patrol you can always take the literacy tests and get into the civil service." The Techo scowled, but didn't dare retort, I was his superior after all. Our group continued on, through the Imperial Gardens and past the buildings of different bureaucracy bodies of the Empire, towards the Imperial Palace, and we could still see the Elephante for a while, but he hurried ahead inside, while we went to another building beforehand to bring some paperwork over to the census bureau.   
  
     Later on, when we finally were going to present our report to the Emperor himself in our audience, we walked into the throne room of the Palace while the audience for the Hathidesan prince was still being held.   
  
     "Yes, I know of her, the Altadorian Council had sent me a Yooyu with an urgent message years ago, about the daughter of some patricians who was missing for years and was found and brought back to Altador, but had gone missing once again after their unfortunate demise. The Altadorian King was searching for her whereabouts, if she was still alive. Unfortunately, the search efforts led to nowhere, and were even called off, we assumed the worst had happened. That is, until you came to me today."   
  
     The Elephante started off his reply almost too firmly, and I wondered had we missed. "If that's her... She's not as gone as you had thought. She attacked my kingdom, and ransacked my castle. She- She-" The young prince choked on his words, not being able to finish his accusation, and I could see his face welling up in tears. The Hathidesan glowed with shame and lowered his head, trying to hide his tears. The Emperor looked sadly at the Elephante, pitying him for his loss. I pitied him too, and so did most of the Neopets in that room.   
  
     The Gelert on the throne groomed his beard as he thought of the best way to respond to the emotional boy, and stood up from the throne to talk closer to the young Elephante, putting his Imperial hands on the prince's shoulders. "I understand your feelings, my boy, I really do. But this path you want to take, it is not a healthy path. As a parent, I know that. I have two daughters, as you know, and I know that if anything ever happened to me, I know at least one of them, if not both of them, would think the same way as you, and would want to seek revenge against whoever got to me." The Emperor looked seriously worried, probably as he played out the hypothetical scenario on his head as he spoke.   
  
     "But, as their father, I also know that this is not good for them, revenge ruins lives, and will not help you on the long run, even if you succeed, revenge comes at such high cost, you will be ruined on the end. That is why I teach them to be forgiving and tolerant, albeit fair and just." The Hathidesan prince wiped his tears on his robe. "Think of the teachings of your wise Many Armed One, think of how your parents... Especially your mother... Have raised you to be. I have read much about Hathidesa, and I know that revenge goes against everything in your moral code, and you know that." The Elephante looked hesitant, and the Emperor looked hopeful that he had managed to convince the young prince from turning away from his idea, but he continued his firm, paternal tone, to completely convince the Hathidesan prince of his point. "Also, think of how your father, the Raja, would be, if you were to simply go off on this hunt. He has already lost his wife to this Kougra, will he also have to lose his only son? I know you are not like that, you are just a kid who is hurting right now, you would never mean no harm to anyone, much less break your father's heart, and let down your nation. Go back to your castle, go be with your father, I command you, no, I beseech you." The young Elephante didn't speak anything, but kept his head lowered, avoiding eye contact with the Emperor, and the Gelert looked again with saddened eyes, before walking back to his throne.   
  
     "About that Kougra, I will have search parties looking for her in the whole entire Eastern region of the Empire, besides that I will personally send a message to King Altador, notifying him about her attack on your kingdom. She will be judged and punished accordingly for her crimes, rest assured of that. Justice will be served to her, not out of vengeance, but out of righteousness. But I do not want you involved in the hunt, much less going off on your own to try and make justice by your own hands. This is an express order, understand?" The young prince hesitated, but then just nodded slowly, and the Emperor just briefly sighed in relief. "Alright... Well, then, go... Return to your father and your homeland, help them rebuild what has been destroyed by her attack, I will deal with this witch."   
  
     The Elephante prince bowed, mumbling a response, and headed out of the throne room.   
  
     Our group approached the Emperor, kneeling before him, but he raised his hand, requesting us to stop mid-salute, and said, "Wait, let me just ask something first. He turned to the guards near him. I need to know if Prince Keemiter headed down the road that leads back to Hathidesa, or if he is going somewhere else." The guards bowed, and left. He then turned to us. "I apologize, I am just deeply worried that boy has decided, despite all reasoning I gave to him, to continue on his pursuit of the witch who took the Rani's life." I nodded, understanding his fatherly worry. He squinted, trying to jog his memory. "Belladonna, am I right? Head of the Eastern borders' Border Patrol troops, you are here for the periodical report about border flux, border conditions, troop conditions, and other topics regarding your jobs?"   
  
     "Yes, my Emperor."   
  
     "I guess you must have guessed already that your troops, and the other sections of the Border Patrol will have one more job now, of keeping an eye out for this runaway Kougra with dark powers, her real name is Lady Roxanna Kekethos, although King Altador notified me that she also go by pseudonyms, notoriously, she goes by Colorful. She is clearly dangerous and must be caught to be tried for her acts."   
  
     I bowed. "Yes, my Emperor." At that moment, the Palace Guards returned with word about the prince.   
  
     "Your Imperial Highness, the Elephante prince was just seen leaving the Imperial City on his Alabriss not through the eastern route, but instead through the southern route." The Gelert listened to the guards and then sighed, disappointed.   
  
     "It was to be expected... Kids, they can be so stubborn... Altador, then I guess that is where he is heading. I will get to writing a letter to King Altador, and Raja Khalidasa, to notify him of his son's plans..." He looked at our group. "Well, then the Border Patrol will have two new jobs. I want all of the sections keeping an eye out for Prince Keemiter and Lady Roxanna. I do not want either of them slipping away from Shenkuu." I bowed again.   
  
     "Yes, my Emperor."


	8. Depequi

     Floating around the space debris, the shattered pieces of a spaceship that came far too close to a meteorite belt, searching for any sign of any sort of life, I was ever so saddened to figure that it was Neopian after all. Mourning the sights, I floated around the remains, searching thoroughly. Something had drawn me in, a bad feeling deep inside, something that was too dangerous for me to just leave it be. I had to find it, before whatever drew me over here did more damage.   
  
     I fleeted through the broken pieces of what was left of the bridge, sensing traces of this strange, dark energy, whatever was that caused all of that destruction had definitely confronted the crewpets. There were laser burn marks and other burn marks on some parts of the walls that were more intact. I felt uncomfortable with the latter marks, there was the anomalous energy yet again, and with it this bad feeling kept on stirring within me. Was it anxiety? Maybe, but it was different... Fear? No, I didn't fear it... No, it was hate. I spotted the crew, but I didn't know if there was anything I could do, it was far too late. I moved on, seeking this unknown foe of mine.   
  
     Sensing another energy nearby, I was already on edge and readied to attack, when I realized she was Neopian as well. A faerie? In outer space? I could tell she was focused on searching too, I could sense worry. I caught a glimpse of her, she looked familiar, she reminded me of the faerie who guarded Neopia from space, and yet... If I were to describe her, she was like, her inverse? She had a mostly orange-motif and long hair, and floated around in her orange bug wings, carrying a trio of interlocked staves of different sizes. She noticed me too, and her surprise was not as intense as I had expected, surprisingly enough. She lowered her weapon.   
  
     "I only thought there was only one Space Faerie?" I could feel her surprise and curiosity change into mild resentment, but also... Longing and pain? Who was this?   
  
     "I am not, I just happened to borrow some of her powers. Apparently the two of us were drawn in for the same reason?" The bad sensation wouldn't leave me, and I felt wary of even sharing this information with strange faerie.   
  
     "Can you feel it too? There's something really wrong here, I don't know what is it, but I don't like it a little bit." She nodded at me, and commented in a funereal tone.   
  
     "I know what this is. This is bad news... It is happening faster than I had expected." Her latter comment caught my attention, and a tinge of fear bubbled within me from asking the question.   
  
     "What's happening?" She looked at me blankly, as if she hadn't realized she was thinking out loud, or that I could hear her thinking, and then answered me.   
  
     "I did not realize you were listening into my thoughts, although, in retrospect, it is my fault I forgot we are in space. I guess... I guess I can share with you, after all, you are a spark of light, it is in your nature to protect Neopia, it is as much part of your creation as it is part of you. Wow, that's a first. The end of time, it is approaching us rapidly." Shocked, I stuttered my words, trying to process what this faerie just spoke.   
  
     "Wa-wait, what do you mean? The end of time, as in, some sort of apocalyptic end?? Something like that??"   
  
     "Something like that." She so nonchalantly spoke to me, and I had no idea of how to even follow up to that, but after a second, she then continued on, rambling to herself. I could feel an overwhelming amount of emotions emanating from her, guilt, anger, determination, frustration, obsession, just to cite a few, and they didn't help my state of being. "I need to work fast, to find the source of infiltration this time, find the artefact that I need to use to detain them, and stop them before it is too late, and this becomes a doomed timeline." She floated on, searching for the culprit I had almost forgotten about by now, cutting the conversation short. I could still hear her ramblings. "If he shows up, that's already a bad sign, at least there are not as many of them this time to fight..." And then she was too far for me to pick up on her thoughts. I didn't know if I should follow her, in fear of discovering more, but yet I needed to know more.   
  
     "Wait! How does this spacecraft crash tie in? Is there anything I can do??" I floated towards the direction she took off, trying to find her in the rubble.   
  
     "This was caused by one of their kind. The telltale signs are there, I can easily tell. You can tell as well, that wariness on you, you can tell that this is something bound to destroy what you protect. They are not from here, they come from beyond."   
  
     "Beyond as in from where? And why do they want to end everything?" I hurried to catch up to her, and almost bumped onto her, who had stopped to look at something.   
  
     "Beyond all that is known. Beyond our existence. They are outsiders in our universe, and they hate it here, their very nature is to destroy what is here, their mere presence corrodes everything around them, just like the mere presence of this world corrodes them away." I peeked over her shoulder to see what she was looking at. Another sad form, I would have thought, if the bad sensation I had hadn't overwhelmed me with repulse and anger at the unfamiliarly familiar Gelert.   
  
     "Is that..."   
  
     "Yes." I forced myself to look at it, it looked Neopian enough to fool anyone, but yet, there were so many dissimilar aspects on it that made it stand out. And its energy, dark, scary, even now, it felt threatening. A monster, hidden among other neopets, who probably gained the trust of the crew, only to ambush them when they were isolated in space. I loathed everything about this.   
  
     "At least this one has met its end. But that means there is more, they never come alone. Well, that is all to it, I have already searched the rest of the ship, or what remains of it. Have you found anything else?" I couldn't think of anything.   
  
     "No..."   
  
     "Alright... Well, I will be going then. It was a pleasure to meet you, spark. It is not every day I encounter one of you." She started floating away, but I never had my answer! I zoomed past her, and blocked her way.   
  
     "Wait! You never told me who you were! And how do you know all of this information! We've never even introduced ourselves!" The faerie was irritated at me, she seemed busy with something else now, looking for something, but she reluctantly answered me.   
  
     "My name is Nora, I know all of this because I have seen all of this before." I was confused by that statement, what did she mean? She raised her staves, but I didn't pay heed, I was too curious to know more about her.   
  
     "You have? What do you mean? Like, in your past life or something?"   
  
     "Or something." But before I could ask her any more questions, a light brighter than my own shone quickly, and I could tell she had gone away.


	9. Availability

_Initializing all systems..._   
_Electrical system... ON_   
_Circulation pumps... ON_   
_Internal cooling system... ON_   
_Hydraulic movement pumps... ON_   
_Joint socket locks... OFF_   
_Automated weight compensation... ON_   
_Internal core stabilization... ON_   
_Visual sensors... ON_   
_Audio sensors... ON_   
_Audio box... ON_

_All basic systems initiated._

_Starting basic core programming now..._   
_Security protocols activated._   
_Self-learning program activated._   
_Starting basic interaction protocols._

_Prototype Number: 1_   
_Prototype Series: A-5_   
_Prototype Name: A-5-0NN7_

_Date and time of the system: Day 30 of the Month of Relaxing, Y3._

_Testing Protocol requested by Administrator._   
_Testing Protocol initializing..._   
_Test Run Number: 1_

 

  
_"_ Start audio log. Test number one." There was a pause, as the Shoyru scientist tried to think of what to say. "The prototype is finally, after many complications, failures, and unforeseen delays, fully functional and working in the way I meant it to work. Besides some fine tuning, I can declare that I have achieved what I wanted to build, a fully-functional self-learning robot, adaptable enough, and with a highly flexible code, to suit for any task, and curious and highly observant so to speed up its learning. Not to brag about it, but I am very proud of how this came out, I hope this will impress the big boss."  
  
 _"_ I bedazzle myself imagining all the possibilities this robot, and more of its kind, could do. The perfect soldiers- No, the perfect agents, suited to be spies, scouts, brawlers, assassins, soldiers, and much more. Ingenious enough to quickly mold to any task one could give them, highly intelligent to see through any difficulties or hindrances that may come in the way, to find roundabouts and other solutions, carrying the very apex of our species' evolutionary breakthrough..." He paused once again, trying to catch his breath, lost from excitement. "And yet, efficient, fastidious, dexterous, powerful, and, most of all, completely compliant to its master like a robot."   
  
_"_ I have even entertained the thought of maybe later on even adding an outer shell of organic-like skin and fur, to help with stealth missions and infiltrating groups. With its 'friendly personality' interface, and a little bit of time to learn and blend in, the foolish instigators who dare oppose the Doctor's forces could be easily wiped out from within! And it could also easily serve as our Symol, planted within their foolish organizations, instantly sending all sorts of information and letting us know exactly what they are planning at every second!" The scientist laughed maniacally at his malevolent plan, he knew this would please greatly his master, or he had hoped so. After all, his brilliant mind would obviously see the brilliancy in this scientist's plan, or could the big boss call himself brilliant after all?   
  
_"_ But first, I must perform some basic conversational tests, to fine tune the real time learning algorithm." He coughed to clear his throat, and started. "Hello A-5-0NNY."   
  
      The robot Aisha rotated his head towards the scientist, and responded in a soft metallic voice. "Hello, nice to meet you. What's your name?" The scientist smiled, satisfied with the response.   
  
_"_ It's Zakaraiah. Doctor Zakaraiah. Welcome to the world."   
  
      The robot hesitated, and then asked. "What's a world?"   
  


_Initializing all systems..._   
_Electrical system... ON_   
_Circulation pumps... ON_   
_Internal cooling system... ON_   
_Hydraulic movement pumps... ON_   
_Joint socket locks... OFF_   
_Automated weight compensation... ON_   
_Internal core stabilization... ON_   
_Visual sensors... ON_   
_Audio sensors... ON_   
_Audio box... ON_

_All basic systems initiated._

_Starting basic core programming now..._   
_Security protocols activated._   
_Self-learning program activated._   
_Starting basic interaction protocols._

_Prototype Number: 1_   
_Prototype Series: A-5_   
_Prototype Name: A-5-0NN7_

_Date and time of the system: Day 3 of the Month of Sleeping, Y5._

_Testing Protocol requested by Administrator._   
_Testing Protocol initializing..._   
_Test Run Number: 42_

  
  
_"_ Start audio log. Test number forty-two. The prototype has progressed much in its cognition, and our long conversations many a time begin straying from the basic concept explaining and world breakdown, towards more abstract and philosophical questions. It is a pleasure chatting with it, overall. I have also been requesting for Sloth's underlings to come and train it, I wanted to test its learning ability in every way possible, and by all means, it is doing astoundingly well as well in the physical combat training. I am satisfied by its progress."   
  
      The Shoyru scientist paused for a second, pensively staring at the robot, and there was a glimpse of worry on his eyes for a second. "Today is the very day where I'll be presenting my prototype to the Doctor himself. I can't help but feel a bit... Nervous... Despite all the ingeniousness in this breakthrough project, and its impressive development.... Dr. Sloth's main experiments all are turned towards brainwashing, mutating and modifying pre-existing lifeforms, with the Doranian natives being his prime fodder. Even I have spent much of my time in his main research, seeking to create the ultimate minions, and that ultimately deprived me of time to work on my own vision. And the research has been phenomenal, I mean, all the mutants, the Kreludonite research, even the modified creatures, it all has pleased the Master..." He trailed off, and looked at his creation in a rhethorical search for the confirmation that he needed.   
  
      The scientist breathed in with a whine, and exhaled sharply, regaining his confidence. "But today, I shall prove to the Doctor that the future of the Virtupets empire is in robotics." He looked outside the door into the laboratory, and noticing the one coming down the hallway, he changed his tone accordingly, to appeal to the approaching group. "My Lord! What a pleasure that you have come to see my humble invention." The Shoyru scientist walked into his laboratory, but the overshadowing figure and his followers did not do the same.   
  
_"_ Bring your robot along, we shall test its actual usefulness on the training grounds at the lower deck." The Shoyru nodded, ignoring the insult to his creation.   
  
_"_ As you wish, my Lord." And signaled the Aisha robot to follow along with the group. The Aisha marched behind all of them, silent as ever, discreetly studying the ones in front of it.   
  
      Tension hung in the air as they headed down the hallway and towards a large bay elevator; the Aisha could tell that not many there knew what was going on. Ahead of it followed a couple of robot Blumaroos donned in plate armor and armed with blasters who seemed to be making small talk about their troop leader's antics; a green Jetsam who also had a blaster and some other hidden weapon within his coat, and who glanced over twice at the robot furthest back in confusion; a red Lenny with two long range blasters, and who seemed visibly fidgety at what he was gathering from the situation and what he feared may be next; a purple Mynci with an energy spear who was distracted and only followed along her colleagues without much thought; and two large mutant Grundos with basic armor, stoic and mindbroken like most of their type. Further on front the Aisha identified its creator, the red Shoyru with metallic wings, and a bulky shadow Kougra with a matching long cape, but none of them were as overbearing as the tall figure cloaked in black, with a large standing collar that was glaring red on the inside, matching his red eyes that were just a bit too small for his large, green face that rested on an impassive, nonchalant expression of near tedium while he listened to the scientist.   
  
      While the elevator descended floors, Dr. Zakaraiah enthusiastically explained his model to his overlord. "It can study any subject in any sort of interaction, to study their disposition and physical state, as well as their emotional state and any body language, as subtle as it can be, so it can quickly calculate the best approach in winning over the other, or eliminating the opponent. And it even has embedded infrared and ultraviolet sensors to heighten its perception, and a chemical scrutinizer that can breakdown and study any substance that enters through its cavities!" The Kougra grimaced in disgust, and intruded with his concern.   
  
_"_ Please tell me this robot won't lick anything. That would be just gross." The Shoyru glared at the Kougra, judgement and defensiveness hiding behind his bionic lenses, then he responded sharply.   
  
_"_ Not if it doesn't need to, it can inhale particles in the air, like you do too, all of the time, Gormos." The Kougra looking disconcerted and incited by the comeback, was about to make his argument back, but at that moment the elevator door opened up to a large hangar area that was empty. With a gesture of his head, the tall figure commanded for all to go ahead, all but him, the commander, and the scientist. The minions all found places they were most comfortable at, grouping with their similars, spread some feet apart, and the robot to be tested was about to follow along and find a group that would best receive it, when the boss called to it.   
  
_"_ Not so fast, I want to speak to you first, robot." It turned around quickly, and the cloaked figure asked the scientist a question. "Does it have a given name, or will I have to refer to it by its series name-" The Shoyru rapidly shook his head.   
  
_"_ No, I gave it no name, so it can take upon any fake name on the missions and impersonate anyone it needs to, in the most natural way." The boss gave a grunt of irritation, while Commander Gormos smirked at the slip up, thinking of how to bring it up later on. Glancing over at his creation, the scientist gave away some of his anxiety through the look he gave, but the robot remained neutral as always.   
  
      The boss prompted the robot. "Introduce yourself. Identify your full prototype name and version. Also, give me a summary of your purpose."   
  
      The Aisha's face lit up with a friendly formal smile. "Hello. I am the A-5-0NNY prototype, first version to this date. My purpose is to accomplish stealth and infiltration missions, involving one or multiple targets, or involving the retrieval of sensitive information, but I can also be used in frontal combat if necessary." Everyone's attention was on the Aisha robot then, and it paused for a little bit, but then continued on his introduction. "I am equipped with multiple sensors that-" 

_"_ Yeah, yeah, I have heard all of that part at least three times by now." Dr. Zakaraiah glanced up apprehensively, but didn't interject yet, as his boss continued on. "A-5-0NNY, do you know who am I?"   
  
      The Aisha replied, confused. "I am sorry, but I do not recognize you. Have we met before?" The tall figure chuckled, unimpressed, prompting both the commander and the scientist to glance at him this time.   
  
      In an imposing voice this time, the boss aggressively grinned widely with his sharp teeth, answering the robot so to put it in its place. "I am the greatest, most ingenious scientist in this universe, the creator and destroyer himself, ruler of this galactic empire, the one who all shall bow down to eventually, your Supreme and Beloved Overlord, Doctor Frank Sloth. Your creator is but one of my creations, and all here are my lowly minions, including you, understood?" The Aisha hesitated for a second while it took in this information.  
  


_Directory of Acquaintances_   
_* Dr. Zakaraiah_   
_Species: Shoyru_   
_Role: Creator, scientist_   
_Best Approach: Friendly, chatty, questioning_

_* Commander Gormos_   
_Species: Kougra_   
_Role: Right hand_   
_Best Approach: Friendly, impressing_

_Adding.... ** Dr. Frank Sloth_   
_Species: Unknown/unidentified_   
_Role: Supreme Overlord, creator of own creator, scientist_   
_Best Approach: Calculating..........._

 

     The Aisha robot then lowered itself so to kneel on one of its knee joints, and bowed down as far as it could.

     "My deepest apologies, my Supreme Lord, that was ignorant of me. It is an immeasurable pleasure to meet you, and I am but completely awestruck to be in your presence." Dr. Sloth chuckled once more, but this time, his tone was different.   
  
_"_ A flatterer, I see." He glanced at Dr. Zakaraiah, who chuckled nervously back. "Alright, now, I want you to interact with them. Go, get to know them." The Aisha stood up quickly, and promptly took off to first approach the robot Blumaroos, who all looked hesitantly at the short robot's approach.   
  
_"_ Hello, I am A-5-0NNY, what are your models, and what series do we belong to?" The robots looked at each other, and responded in order.   
  
_"_ Hey kid. We're Garoo's Elite Strike Commander robots, battler BL series. I am Bot BL-04." The first robot answered.   
  
_"_ And I'm BL-09." The second robot followed.   
  
_"_ And I'm BL-15." The third robot finalized.   
  
      The Aisha smiled as it took in the information given. "Glad to make your acquaintance."  
  
      Surveying around, he then moved onto the mutant Grundos, who only looked at him, as passive as ever. "Hello. I am A-5-0NNY, what are your names?" But the mutants didn't respond, and in a moment of uncertainty, the robot Aisha looked at its creator, trying to figure out what to do next, but Dr. Sloth watched the two, so Dr. Zakaraiah just nudged at him with his head, to keep on going. The Aisha turned back to the mutant Grundos, and after studying them, decided to brighten up with the widest, most friendly smile it could do, and the Grundos, noticing the smile, reciprocated back. That was the best interaction it could get out of the mutants, so then it moved onto the Neopians now.   
  
      He approached the Jetsam first, who was already intrigued by this short addition to Sloth's troops, albeit he clearly still didn't know why was he there. "Hello! I am A-5-0NNY, what's your name?" The Aisha extended a hand invitingly towards the goon.   
  
      The Jetsam stuttered a bit. "Uh- Uriak." And took the robot's hand to shake.   
  
_"_ Pleasure to meet you, Uriak!" The Aisha sounded chippy, and shook hands so lively, it was a relief to the Jetsam, but it was a bit too strange for him for this metallic creature to be so friendly.   
  
_"_ Y-you too.. _."_ And the robot promptly moved onto the Mynci, and tried greeting the same way, hand already extended.   
  
_"_ Hi, I am-"  
  
 _"_ A-5-0NNY, yes, I think we have all heard it here plenty of times already." The Mynci didn't even take its hand. The robot, disconcerted, lowered its hand, and took a second to continue on.   
  
_"_ Oh... Well, what is your name, then? If I may ask?" The Mynci rolled her eyes, and sighed irritably, but responded either ways, since she did not want to anger everyone's boss, who was still watching.   
  
_"_ Jenna."   
  
_"_ Nice to meet you, Jenna." It smiled at her, but all she did was roll her eyes yet again, and ignore it. The Aisha then decided to move onto the Lenny, whose eyes widened when he saw the Aisha approach, and looked visibly tense.   
  
_"_ Hey there, my name's A-5-0NNY." Noticing that the Lenny was not easing up even with his smile, it tried comforting him by reassuring. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I just want to get to know your name." The Lenny hesitated for some seconds, but after glancing fearfully at his lord, responded in a fumble.   
  
_"_ It-it's W-Wal-Waltrax." The Aisha smiled once again, and tried reaching out its hand to the Lenny, who apprehensively took it to shake it.   
  
_"_ Nice to meet you Waltrax." It warmly continued on. "See, I just wanted to know you a bit better." Dr. Sloth coughed to clear his throat, and to bring attention to him, and then he proceeded to finalize this test.   
  
_"_ Well, then, I see your social interface is working well..." And in a grin, he instructed the next test. "Now... Finish ALL of these minions." The Aisha looked at his overlord while he processed the instructions, while the goons and the robots, all taken aback, started moving away, and rushed to take their weapons out.   
  
      Waltrax in particular was stumbling away from the robot, fumbling to take his weapon out, while tearing up about what he knew was going to happen from the beginning, but the Aisha jumped onto him before he could do anything, stole his long range blasters, and knocked out the Lenny with its elbow. It then proceeded to blast off all of the other armed targets, and then doing the same to the Lenny. The mutant Grundos, now having noticed the attack, charged in to try to finish off the robot, but the robot dashed to take the Mynci's energy spear, now laying on the ground near her, and then charged in towards the mutants, jumping high and climbing over one of them to get them from their blind spots. With two large thuds, the Aisha had just accomplished his instructions successfully, and looked at the three remaining living creatures there, awaiting instructions, while it updated its database.   
  


_Directory of Acquaintances_   
_* Dr. Zakaraiah_   
_Species: Shoyru_   
_Role: Creator, scientist_   
_Best Approach: Friendly, chatty, questioning_

_* Commander Gormos_   
_Species: Kougra_   
_Role: Right hand_   
_Best Approach: Friendly, impressing_

_** Dr. Frank Sloth_   
_Species: Unknown/unidentified_   
_Role: Supreme Overlord, creator of own creator, scientist_   
_Best Approach: Friendly, submissive_

_BL-04 - Terminated_   
_Species: Blumaroo_   
_Role: Garoo's Elite Strike Commander_   
_Best Approach: Neutral, formal_

_BL-09 - Terminated_   
_Species: Blumaroo_   
_Role: Garoo's Elite Strike Commander_   
_Best Approach: Neutral, formal_

_BL-15 - Terminated_   
_Species: Blumaroo_   
_Role: Garoo's Elite Strike Commander_   
_Best Approach: Neutral, formal_

_Unknown - Terminated_   
_Species: Grundo_   
_Role: Goon, mutant_   
_Best Approach: Nonverbal_

_Unknown - Terminated_   
_Species: Grundo_   
_Role: Goon, mutant_   
_Best Approach: Nonverbal_

_Uriak - Terminated_   
_Species: Jetsam_   
_Role: Minion, scout_   
_Best Approach: Friendly_

_Jenna - Terminated_   
_Species: Mynci_   
_Role: Minion, troop soldier_   
_Best Approach: Nonchalant_

_Waltrax - Terminated_   
_Species: Lenny_   
_Role: Minion, internal personnel_   
_Best Approach: Warm, reassuring_

  
     Dr. Zakaraiah glanced over at Dr. Sloth, and with one look he could tell he had greatly pleased his master, and smiled approvingly and proudly at his creation. The Kougra looked around, shocked and somewhat horrified at the scenery, and Dr. Sloth, who was still reflecting on what just happened, was very satisfied by this result. He then turned to Dr. Zakaraiah with clear excitement. "What did you say it is missing?" The Shoyru looked at his boss surprised by his tone, but didn't make any verbal note of it.   
  
_"_ Oh- I was- Um, as you can tell, this model looks too un-Neopian, which may repulse many, so I was thinking that maybe it needed some sort of skin, maybe that could change texture and color on demand-"   
  
_"_ Consider it done." Both the Shoyru and the Kougra looked surprised at their boss, while the Aisha just quietly watched it all, donning its neutral face.   
  
_"_ Um- You- Approve of it?" Dr. Zakaraiah's disconcerting made Dr. Sloth realize how much his excitement was slipping through, so he regained his nonchalant, distantly superior posture, and responded now much more calmly and imposingly.   
  
_"_ Yes, yes I do. I think this was more than successful, and I want this model out and ready to work on missions. You shall have the materials and personnel needed to finish this one up." Dr. Zakaraiah's face lit up, and he was about to thank his boss, when Sloth continued on. "Also, I want the plans too, I want to produce more of them." Gormos's eyes widened at the thought, but Dr. Zakaraiah was overjoyed, and bowed energetically.   
  
_"_ Thank you, my Lord, for your extreme kindness." Dr. Sloth looked at his creation with hidden pride.   
  
_"_ Yeah, yeah, don't get used to it."


	10. Nohbdy

            With a large pair of metal scissors, I struggled to cut through the flour sack I had already fixed up. “Stupid, dull scissors.” I glanced over into the door to the back of the inn, fearing get caught by Mrs. Jones, and at that moment I jumped at the words hissed from right behind me, and the hand at my shoulder.   
  
            “Noah! Are you ready or what??” I held back a surprised squeak, and turned around quickly to face a giant jack-o-lantern an inch away from my face. This time I couldn't hold back my scream, and fell back, into one of the empty wooden boxes that Mr. Jones had left for the produce delivery to pick up the next day. I could hear him laughing at my situation, while I got out of the box.   
  
            “Ha ha, yes, hilarious, you scared the living ghost out of my feathered body.” I finally got up and shoved him off. “Jerk!”   
  
            The Kyrii stumbled backwards, but continued laughing. “Hey, hey, hey, easy there, big fluff, I was just messing with you. You're such a scaredy Kad, how can I not mess with you?” Ladies and gentlepets, Lucas, summed up. I gave him a scowl while I searched for the scissors in the boxes, but he quickly charged in, tickling me at my waist, and I squealed once again. “Don't be maaaaad~” He taunted, and continued to tickle me, and I couldn't help myself to but contort with laughter.   
  
            “Stop! Stop! I have scissors with me! Do you want to get us hurt??” I squawked in between my laughter, trying to point to the blades on my hand, but I could barely hang onto them or the bag I was previously cutting. Also I couldn't fight him back either, since my hands were busy! “Stooooop! It's not fair I can't fight you back!! This is cowardice!!” And then I remembered I still had two limbs not busy, and flapped my wings to push him off. “Okay, enough! Enough! Or we'll get caught! Also, you're not letting me finish making my mask, Lucas!” He chuckled at the bag on my hand.   
  
            “Pffft, THAT's your mask? At least I got myself a real pumpkin!” He placed his hands on his giant mask, and I squinted, offended by his remark.   
  
            “Hey, it's a decent mask! I just need to get the other eye cut open. Also, how in Neopia are you carrying that on your head? How did you fit through, your head's so huge!” He exclaimed back offended, and I chuckled. “See, two can play this game. But... Either ways, isn't that really heavy? And won't that rot eventually?”  
  
            “Too many questions, Noah, I haven't figured out THAT far!” He then proceeded to take one side of his black cape, and half cover his pumpkin head. “But I do look amazing, don't I? It's totally worth it.”  
  
            “Translation, Lucas is stupid and just did a stupid because he can't think two steps ahead.” We heard from a familiar younger voice, and we both turned to look at Mariah, who was sporting a tiara with two large horns, and her glaring red eyes were accentuated by dark paint, which, together with her mostly black outfit, gave her a devilish look. Oh, Fyora, was I the only one who didn't finish my outfit yet? I hurried up on cutting up the eye, and tearing a mouth, and quickly slid the mask over my face.   
  
            “Hey, that's just how I roll.” The spotted Kyrii shrugged, and then glanced over at me. “Nice, although it's a bit generic, isn't it? I mean, you're just like, a masked Neopet?”  
  
            “That's the point! I'm nobody.” I grinned.   
  
            Mariah shook her head. “That's like, the worst disguise ever. Everyone will know who you are!”  
  
            “As if your eye paint actually hides a thing. Also, is it supposed to look spooky? Because it just looks like you've played under the stove for too long!”   
  
            “Hey! It's supposed to make my eyes look scarier! Also, it matches my horn and dress!”   
  
            Lucas intruded in, breaking up our discussion. “Guys, guys! Quit it! Remember what Billy said, he will help us disguise ourselves better. He has the means, remember? So quit your squabbling, and let's go meet him! Also, we need to leave before Mum catches us. Can you take us there pleeease??” Lucas asked his half-sister.   
  
            Mariah rolled her eyes at us, and glared at me. “Fiiiine. But I'm still counting that against this dimwit here,” and then proceeded to extend her hands to us. “Grab on, don't let go, etcetera, unless you wanna land somewhere in the middle of Neovia, you know the drill.” Lucas and I held on, and in a wink of an eye, we were at the forest clearing on the other side of Neovia, where we had told the meet up was going to happen.   
  
            “It's always handy to have a half-demon half-sister!” Lucas exclaimed jokingly, but it was a fact that couldn’t be denied, at least the part about her being a half-demon. Everyone in town gossiped about Mariah’s origins, about how Mrs. Jones’s inn, being in the outskirts of town, was a passing point for many a strange creature from the depths of Haunted Woods, and how she once did involve herself with a creature who appeared as a Kyrii but wasn’t exactly a Neopet. Most kids were told to stay away from Mariah, mainly after she learned she could do all sorts of dark magic some years back, and if it wasn’t for the group of friends we were going to meet she’d only have us. Honestly, none of us were truly welcome in town, Mrs. Jones was not particularly seen in a positive light due to the nature of her clientele so even poor Lucas did not escape the unspoken reprehension from the mob, despite him just being a bit of an oddball.  
  
            Mariah replied, deadpan. “Yeah, yeah, you only owe me like, half of your week's wage this time, and all of your Halloween candy, and ownership of that sweet cricket hammer you found last week by the riverbank.” Lucas scoffed.  
  
            “Take my soul already, curses, at least it's cheaper!”  
  
            “It's. Too. Cheap _._ ”

            “I know, but I can at least try to bargain, you're robbing me broke!”  
  
            I watched the two banter with a tinge of jealousy, but didn't say anything. I was part of the family, Mrs. Jones insisted over and over with me over all these years, but yet, one could not help but feel left out- Change of topic, we were here! But where were the others? I looked around, and spotted a few incoming kids, some I recognized.   
  
            “Heeeyyy!!” A small brown Shoyru with a Faerie mask, cloth wings and antlers ran up to us, and hugged the three of us. Lucy was younger, about Mariah’s age, and from a rather wealthy family. She was a bottomless pit of enthusiasm and excitement, with a more childish personality and correspondingly childish dressing style; she had taken a liking to Lucas’s sister, and thus suffered some retaliation from other kids on top of their usual bullying. “How are you?? Oh my Fyora, I am so, SO happy you guys came! Aren't you excited? I am excited!” Mariah frowned in annoyance at her saccharine hyper classmate from school.   
  
            “Oh, hey Lucy, glad to see you too.” She said unenthusiastically, but the Shoyru's excitement wasn't so easily lessened.

            “So, are you excited? Because I surely am! When I got invited by Billy to join his gang, I couldn’t help but beam with happiness, I mean, I love friends, I love my friends! It was too bad that Billy hasn’t spoken much with anyone as of lately, because I missed him! It has been weeks since he’s interacted with anyone! Which is weird, but you know, that’s Billy for you, am I right? Also, now that’s over, right? Now he’s called everyone over! The gang’s all here! And, oh, I am so happy you guys are here along, that you’re here, Mariah! I can barely contain myself! Just imagine all the things we will do together!” She let out a squeal from the top of her lungs, and a Neopet dressed up as a giant Moach jumped in surprise, and took off his costume head to talk to our group, revealing a pink Krawk’s head I knew went by the name of Archie. Him and a few other Neopets were from the orphanage, they were all meant to show up if they could.

            “So… What is exactly Billy planning with his gang shindig? I hope it’s nothing too crazy, the Head Sister will kill me if we get caught by the Neovian police again. I mean, isn’t it weird already we have to come in full on costumes? It sounds so shady.” A couple more started showing up in costumes from in between the trees: a bulky and tall speckled Chomby looking like a witch, who was from a migrant family from the outskirts of town; a Halloween Elephante dressed as a fire faerie who I recognized as Archie’s friend; a Pirate Ruki with a horrendous mask resembling the Esophagor, and whose parents were gardeners to a questionable local politician; Leonie, a camouflage Mynci who I knew from school, and who was heavily harassed for his theatrical personality; a Desert Usul in an even uglier mask who was also from the orphanage; and Slimy, also from the orphanage, the Scamander-looking yellow Techo who was sporting a draconian helmet, much to my surprise, I wonder who she had to steal to get that.

            That was it, that was the entire group, we were always out and about to do whatever we felt like doing, which mostly boiled down to hanging around town and doing whatever we pleased after school was out and our house chores were all done. We had gotten into all sorts of trouble already, from having the police chase us to even once ticking off a circus troupe when we let loose their petpets and took their star acrobat’s jewelry for fun. Mrs. Jones was particularly furious at us three in that last occasion, mainly after she discovered we had buried the fake gold earrings in the ashes of the oven to hide from the policepets, who easily guessed we were involved somehow in the chaos that had ensued at the town centre because of all the petpets. The group was not that big after all, and in that particular moment, everyone seemed as clueless about what was going on as we were.

            “Whatever it is, I am wondering why he told everyone to come in costume, I mean, it’s way past Halloween either ways, but yet, here we are, looking like fools, in the middle of the forest in a cold eve,” Slimy commented with a sarcastic tone.

            “Nay, not like fools!” A familiar voice spoke at a distance, from a foggy area in the woods. “You look like perfect subjects to hear about my proposal, a proposal that will change everything, a proposal that will change your entire lives!” Everyone turned their heads towards where the voice was coming from, and a shadow in the woods taller than life and with glaring eyes that were embers ablaze approached our group, and everyone looked uncertain and afraid. I looked over at Lucas, who looked pale behind his pumpkin eye cutout, and then at Mariah, who usually was very blasé, but at that moment looked tense. The creature appeared before us, a monster with a coconut husk for a face, flaming eyes, two giant tusks and elongated ears, and ragged burlap and old cotton that covered his body, and wooden clogs. Everyone paled at its appearance, speechless for a short while until the Shoyru in a Faerie outfit broke the silence upon recognizing it.

            “B-Billy?” Asked a shrunken and shaken Lucy.

            The monster replied. “Keen eye, young Lucy. Despite the grotesque form I’ve decided to take, you’ve realized that, indeed, I am after all just your usual Billy.” Within a blink of an eye, what was the creature became a Moehog in his Halloween costume, and everyone breathed out in relief collectively at once, with exception of Lucy herself, who switched quickly to her usual verborrheic self.

            “I knew it was you the moment I saw your matching coconut mask and clogs back in Halloween, silly, you’re the only one who would commit such fashion disaster proudly.” Mariah and some others snorted at the Shoyru’s no-filter comment, but the Moehog was unfazed to it. “But yeah, how did you do that? How did you become a giant monster thing? Is it magic? Oh, I bet it is, like Mariah, she’s magic too, you know, they say she’s got demonic magic, and you seem to be magic, maybe it is demonic too? Oh, wait, but you didn’t have it before, did you? Did you just-“

            “Lucy, for Fyora’s sake, let him speak!” The Usul from our group finally yelled, and the Shoyru realized her inconvenience, and shut up immediately. Billy waved his hand towards her, signaling.

            “Allow me to demonstrate on you, since you’re so eager to participate, then.” Her eyes widened behind her winged mask, prompting her to answer immediately.

            “Alright!” In a blink of the eye once again, Lucy the masked Shoyru became Lucy the masked Faerie, and multiple expressions of awe were heard around the circle. She looked down at her hands and her legs, then over her shoulder, and then finally exclaimed, "Oh my sweet Fyora I look amazing! I'M A CUTE FAERIE!"

            "Indeed you are, Lucy." He turned to speak to the others while Lucy continued her enthusiastic observation of her altered physique. "You see, an incredible thing I've learned I can do as of these recent weeks, and the direct reason for my quietness-"

            "'Quietness' is understating it," commented the Ruki, “we were worried sick you had caught the pox or something,” and Billy nodded vehemently.

            “And I do apologize for leaving you all in the dark, Richie. The truth is, I was training this wonderful ability I have learned I can use, so I would have interesting results to show the group. You see, this ability took me very long to get accustomed to, but it was worth it. I have learned the most wondrous of abilities, one that twists the very reality of those who I can inflict this very status effect upon, and I can manage to make it seem as real as one’s nightmares, or the games your imagination plays late at night when you feel the sudden urge to raise yourself off from slumber and stare into the dark crevasse on the corner of the room before rushing to fulfill your necessities.” We were all very interested at this point, still trying to decrypt Billy’s enigmatic speech, a pattern of speech we were way too used to. At this point we had all gotten used to his weird speech pattern, which made him sound like he was a narrator of some grand play. It was a byproduct of him spending so much of his time in his “researches” and in the library, and everyone else teased him heavily for it, but doing the same would be hypocritical from our group, after all each of us had multiple reasons to be frowned upon by everyone else. “I, unfortunately, had to use it on those subjects I had available, as in, my poor Ma, the maid who aides her in the kitchen and chores, and my poor petpets.”

            “You see, my first experience with this ability was one bad morning I had wished it was good so I could leave my quarters and skedaddle to the town, but I knew my mother would never allow me to leave when it was pouring hard enough that it seemed like the floodgates of the river of Neovia would burst-“

            “Oh, you mean like, two months ago? The gates did burst out, do you remember? It was a crazy week to get them back working, the whole town square was ruined by the mud!” Lucy chimed in.

            “Yes, they did unfortunately give way to the mud waters from the Woods, sadly enough,” the Moehog regained the spotlight briefly stolen once again by the Shoyru who could not contain herself. “But yet- This is what surprised me the most- And revealed me to the nature of my abilities beforehand unknown to me- I wished so hard within my heart and mind that it was a good day, that the skies were clear enough so she would allow me to leave my family’s property to do my usual activities in this town, that somehow, when I went to request permission to leave the house as usual, the maid who cares for me while my mother was busy was more than willing to grant such permission. She even announced loudly, ‘William, this day could not be nicer, you better get some of that fresh air before the sun sets and gets too cold. Off with you, go be bricky with your friends, but not too much so that the peelers will be at our doorsteps again. Do come back before dinnertime this time or Mrs. Blake will have my hide this time!’ much to my later-understood confusion, as I had stared multiple times out of the window in this conversation to make sure I was not going insane, but since I was allowed such permission, I did not hesitate twice before rushing off, despite the downpour.”

            “And for those who doubt this was not just a temporary lapse of judgment from Miss Lania, whose eyes do seem to fail her at times, I did confirm something was indeed strange later on, when we were all in our daily task of opinionating on our schooling systems-“

            “Do you mean when we tossed rocks at Alanna’s school because she was sobbing over her teacher ragging her over her rotten pencils?” The Mynci in a dark robe chimed in.

            “Yes, indeed then, when we did indeed draw the attention of the adults, and eventually had the blue-bellies right on our tails while trying to hightail to the forest, I had to witness what I could only describe as a miracle, as I somehow wished them to not see anything to me and Lucy cornered without any escape plan, and indeed they did bid to my wishes, alike to the housemaid who allowed me out disregarding the real weather, they saw literally nothing where we both were crouching over, out of corners to hide from them.”

            “Oh, I thought we had just struck some luck? You used magic on them?” The Shoyru in the mask interrupted.

            “Or whatever is the source of my ability I have full control of now.” Billy confirmed.

            “Oh, my Fyora in the throne of Faerieland, that’s so amazing! You saved our hides! At least metaphorically.” She squealed. He nodded in response, smiling confidently.

            “Indeed, it was more than miraculous, and I knew then and there, something strange was going on. After that misadventure of ours, and our miraculous escape, I knew something peculiar was going on, and thus started testing out what could be causing these continuous lapses in the adults’ judgments. After a few more attempts in attempting to change what I wanted to happen, I realized I had the very ability not to change the very thing I was worried about, which was my first question I had, but instead I changed how others perceived it. I did later on delve into some readings, heavy medical topics and the like, and I do seem to conclude I am not changing my reality, but instead how one perceives it. After all, we all have to perceive such reality through our eyes and ears and tact, don’t we? Such perception seems to be a filter in reality, and I seem to have the very ability to control such filter of reality. I can make one find Faerieland before them, but I can also make one see the creatures of what one could only assume the most corrupting darkness creates.”

            The reactions around the circle of friends were slow to surface, but were very mixed, some were very amazed by the explanation Billy was giving us, but some, specifically Mariah, Jane and Slimy, were less amazed and more concerned. I felt wavering concern and curiosity myself, this was very different from anything I had ever heard of, but it did scare me a bit to learn that one could potentially mess with how I perceived reality itself.

            “How… Do we know we’re not being toyed with, given the type of powers you have, Billy? You do realize you’re saying you’re able to do many things, even induce us to do things without even being personally here, just by believing you’re here because we… Perceive it as such.” Jane the Chomby spoke up, voicing what many seemed to have as a very valid concern. Billy frowned, responding defensively.

            “I swear on Fyora’s gilded throne of Faerieland, I do not wish to fool you on any way. I have no ill intents, not towards any of you, and would never wish to toy with my friends in such cruel ways!” He exclaimed. “I may have acquired some mysterious powers which I have yet to discover the origin, but that does not change my nature.” He looked at everyone, turning almost a full circle to encompass everyone’s eyesight. “Have you ever questioned my friendship with you beforehand? Have you ever thought I could have had ill intents toward you, or that I could have been less than truthful with any of you?” Everyone, Lucas, Mariah and me included, basically agreed on how Billy was far from ever being someone untruthful, and all contented in agreeing to ourselves that there was no way he would be thinking anything nefarious towards us.

            “Nah, you’re too sweet and soft to be plotting anything bad to us!” Lucy exclaimed, assured of her words. “You couldn’t harm a fly!” He smiled warmly at her, and then friendly at us, and then proceeded on speaking for longer.

            “I know that this is a strange and concerning revelation to you guys, trust me when I say, it was the same for me. But that’s also why I felt it was important to seek solace, to train myself to this newfound supernatural skill, so I can have a good grasp of what it can achieve, so I can not harm others accidentally. Thus I withdrew, and tried seeking into the books my parents own the answers I sought about what I could only speculate was some manifestation of faerie magic. Which leads me to my next point, my proposition to all of you, a wondrous idea that I came up myself and wished to share with you, in hopes you’d aid to, if you’re not too afraid of it!” Was he challenging us, or teasing us? We could never really be sure with Billy.

            “One of the books I ran into in my research about my abilities had mentions I cross-referenced with the library’s books about this legendary group called the Children of Nyx, a group of Neopets who were disciples of Nyx, the mother of darkness herself, a fearsome dark Faerie who existed in the times of folklore and myths, and whose influence created what was the very first league of villains, who terrorized the lands and created such legacy that made many first associate darkness with evil itself.” Alright, where was he going with this? I looked over at the other two, who seemed puzzled as well, and upon frowning at Lucas, he shrugged off carefree as always.

            “These are just tales, since there are no factual proofs, but- Imagine just for a second- This legendary group had somehow resurfaced once again, only to terrorize this town. Mysterious evil Neopets were causing all sort of ruckus, and it wasn’t related to us? I could- I could use this magical ability I have to turn our appearances so hideous and disfigured, it would be unfeasible for them to ever tie anything we ever did back to us-“ His enthusiasm led him to gesticulate more and more wildly as his speech quickened on the tempo, and we all could feel this enthusiasm reach us. “Get anything we want, do anything we want, we could run this town however we want- For example-“ He pointed at the Mynci, who was surprised to be singled out, “Teach a lesson to the bullies who have been hurting Leonie, and even tied him up that one time,” and then moved on to the Shoyru, who was hesitant yet willing to agree with him, “And give the girls who dumped red paint on Lucy a while back a piece of our mind- Well, we could actually give anyone a piece of our mind- Even those stuck up townies from the council who were trying to shut down the orphanage and drive away the travelling caravans on the fringes of town because they damaged this stupid town’s image!“ Archie, Slimy and the Usul both nodded and agreed, commenting on how angry they were about it, and even Jane was nodding along despite her hesitance. But I wondered what made me still hesitant, as this was a really good proposal. We finally had some power in our hands! We could do whatever we wanted, and get away scat-free, wasn’t that the best? I was not alone either, none of the other two were feeling too good on the proposal, and neither was Richie or the Elephante girl.

            “I don’t know, Billy.” Started Mariah, “This seems off. Like, for example, take that we do all those things, and get all our satisfactions. First of all, what would we be doing? How far would we go in giving them our piece of mind? Is there a limit you would not cross?”

            Billy started to respond, “No, we would be getting back at those who have taunted or harmed us-“ But Mariah interrupted before he finished the sentence.

            “Yeah, duh, but I mean, would you be willing to do something serious? Because that’s wrong-“

            “Mariah, we perform petty thievery and vandalization by the definition of the law.” The Moehog interrupted her back.

            “But this is farther than pickpocketing for some ‘points and maybe a cute handkerchief, Billy. We could get away with some serious things, really cruel, bad things, isn’t it a good idea to establish a ground of what’s allowed and not, so we don’t only impersonate evil beings, but become truly evil?” A dark thought flashed in my mind, and I realized what Mariah was trying to mean, and I think that was also in some of the others’ minds. Billy was taken aback by Mariah’s question for a split second, but then responded defensively.

            “Of course I am not suggesting that we do anything irreparable! No, Mariah, we would restrain ourselves, I mean, none of us have such intentions, right?” He looked at the rest of us, and in one way or another we all expressed our agreement on such a line to draw and that was a relief to most, but Mariah then moved onto her next point.

            “Also, second- Isn’t it wrong to use your powers for something… Like this?” Billy scoffed.

            “You literally use your magic to do whatever you so please, Kyrii. What’s wrong with following along with such directive?”

            “Well- I’m not out there using my magic to attack others or anything of the sort- I mean, at most I use my teleportation to get away on a pinch, and-“

            “Don’t you use your powers to help you along on your daily tasks, and to tease and mess with your brother and with Noah?” Billy grew frustrated with Mariah’s questioning.

            “Yeah, but not-“

            “Then there is no difference! Honestly, Mariah, I am not so sure of what is your issue with my proposal!” Mariah huffed in irritation at a lack of words, probably not being able to put into words the discomfort Lucas and I also felt.

            “Fine, although I disagree- But either ways, what about the possibility of someone figuring us out? I mean, we can be as well disguised as possible, but wouldn’t it just take a little brainpower from the police or someone else of figuring that we’re doing all sorts of things that tie back to our lives, as these… Monsters? Like, literally everything proposed in here is so personal it would take anyone with some time to investigate the occasions and draw up a link from it to us.” The third point did make the entire group, even Billy, to stop and think.

            “That is- A good point, in fact-“ He mentioned, and I had the answer right away.

            “Uh- We could do some random things in between our plans-“ I mentioned. Mariah squinted at me, irritated at me answering her supposedly undermining question that was meant to stop everyone from proceeding on just a bit too late.

            “Yeah, if we do like, random crazy things in between, I think that will cause enough confusion to throw them off our trail,” Richie completed my inconveniently loud thought, and the damage was done.

            “Like an Alabriss kicking up dust before running off,” The Usul nodded along.

            “Then that is it! Very good, Noah, I approve of this idea, do the rest of you agree as well?”

            “Yeah!” Lucy enthusiastically started off.

            “Yes!” Said Richie.

            “Mh-hm,” the Usul agreed.

            “Alright,” followed up Slimy.

             “Yea-,” Leonie said with a slight hesitation.

            Jane nodded, convinced. “Mm-“

            “I’m in if Archie is in,” Said the Elephante.

            “I guess- I’m in, Lisa,” Archie replied.

            The crowd now awaited our approval, which Lucas started off. “Alright, you guys stringed me in well. I wanna get at the town council too, they’ve been tormenting Mother to see if they can shut her inn down for a long while now.” Billy nodded and then said.

            “We’ll add to the list of reasons to plan something with the town council.”

            “I guess I’m supposedly in, since I had the idea on how to keep them off our tracks,” I blurted out, leaving only Mariah for last. She sighed, defeated, and resuming her nonchalant attitude, then responded.

            “Alright, have it your way. I’m tagging along to keep these two idiots in check, though.” She pointed at Lucas and me, and the others chuckled while I shrugged off. The Moehog smiled once again, happy to have convinced everyone of this wild venture.

            “Excellent, I am very pleased you have all agreed along. Now, following up with Mariah’s concern about being discovered, and something that I had not thought about until now, so bear with me if it is an idea a tad clunky, but we would be needing, along with disguises that I will be augmenting so to pass as monstrous creations, some sort of codename, so to not link us back to our identities.”

            “Right, like nicknames or something?” The Usul mentioned.

            “Yes, but not for your real name, Alanna. It would have to be something… Completely different- For example, something that could relate to your disguise.”

            I already had the idea in my mind of what codename would I take.


End file.
